Christmas Birthdays Forgotten in the Mix
People born on Dec. 25 are overshadowed by the holiday
Last year’s cause célèbre was the name-changing of the towering spruce in front of 30 Rock to “The Tree.” This year, the title’s been restored to the “Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.”
With at least that War On Christmas battle behind us, I would like to take up a new banner: sensitivity to the segment of our population who are always overshadowed by the holiday festivities because they share their birthday with Christ. Read more
The Real Central Park Santa Claus
By Laura Shin
The man in the Santa suit greeting families in Central Park is an 82-year-old photographer from the Upper East Side, but he is no fraud. Everything from Ed Bobrow’s snow-white beard to his warm personality is real. Read more
Christmas, Continued
To the Editor:
Although it would be easy to think of Malachy McCourt’s belated rant on Christmas (“’Tis Not the Season,” Jan. 21) as mean-spirited, he is actually mostly correct.
He says, “The so-called Christians… converted the feast of the sun god into a celebration of the birth of Jesus…” Actually, “Christmas” was created in the third century when Constantine (who ironically had become a Christian by then) refused to allow the celebration of Jesus’ birth as a separate holiday, but instead required it to be “subsumed” into the late-year pagan celebration of Saturnalia, which celebrated Saturn, the god of agriculture and the harvest (not the sun). N.B. There is an alternative claim that the Christians wanted their celebration to coincide with Saturnalia, but this is less likely. Read more
’Tis Not the Season
Just when you thought you were done with Christmas, here I come with more stuff on it. As we know, it’s a season fraught with anxiety, depression, anger and domestic disharmony, all despite the injunctions of various clergy that it is the season of peace, tranquility and the sharing of joy and of song. The so-called Christians have had a monopoly on the whole shebang since they converted the feast of the sun god into a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Esq.
Prior to that event, the Romans celebrated the festival Saturnalia, a time of big feasts, bellowing bawdy ballads, gift giving and decking ye olde halls with holly, ivy and other green foliages. The idea being that evergreens are symbols of life and fertility and that they would keep out the winter’s dark demons of despair and depression. Read more
Evergreen Guys
Joel* doesn’t like coffee, but thanks so much for asking.
It’s the dead of winter, and the dead of night. He’s thousands of miles from his Swedish home, selling Christmas trees on the Upper East Side. He works every night of the week, from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m.
“Yeah, it gets lonely,” he said. Read more
GIFT GUIDE!: BUY IT ON BROADWAY
My family uses the German word “stadtbummel” (city stroll) to mean “We’re wandering in and out of stores on a whim.” Whatever you choose to call it, a stroll along Broadway at this time of year is a handy way to pinpoint gift ideas for every man, woman and child in your life.
Let’s bummel over to Lincoln Plaza Cinemas (1886 Broadway between 62nd and 63rd), the go-to theater for anything interesting on the Upper West Side, and pick up a slim yellow and blue gift certificate booklet ($20) for Christopher the cinephile. The chocolate chip cookies ($1.95 each) at Breadsoul Café (30 Lincoln Plaza) are an addiction for Roger, who works long hours at the West Side Y on 63rd Street. He gives them as gifts to co-workers to munch on during the stressful holiday crunch. Read more
