Christmastime in New York City Through the Ages
An estimated 4000 people line both sides of 51st St. waiting to see the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall in New York, December 27, 1945. (Photo by Tony Camerano/AP Photo)
A Christmas Eve shopper with a crated rocking horse tries to hail a cab outside Macy’s department store in New York City on December 24, 1946. (Photo by Carl Nesensohn/AP Photo)
In this December, 24, 1946, file photo, last minute Christmas Eve shoppers gather in front of Macy’s window display in New York. A $400 million makeover is giving New York’s iconic Macy’s store a sleek, new 21st century style. (Photo by Carl Nesensohn/AP Photo)
Mrs.Frances Corless her daughter “Chickie” are loaded down with bundles after doing some last minute shopping at Macy’s on Christmas Eve in New York, December 24, 1946. (Photo by Carl Nesensohn/AP Photo)
General scene showing Christmas Eve shoppers near Macy’s in New York, December 24, 1946. (Photo by Carl Nesensohn/AP Photo)
With the famed Rockefeller Center Christmas tree rising above them, skaters glide on the ice at the center’s skating rink in midtown Manhattan, New York, in this photo from December 8, 1949. The skating rink turns 70 on Christmas Day, 2006. (Photo by John Lindsay/AP Photo)
The landmark Christmas tree at New York’s Rockefeller Plaza stands out December 26, 1947 as a few hardy pedestrians make their way through the snow drifts of one of the heaviest winter storms in years. (Photo by Harry Harris/AP Photo)
The pre-Christmas weekend holiday rush is on in this view of Penn Station in New York, December 21, 1951. In the right center are a group of sailors with duffel bags hoisted on their shoulders. (Photo by John Rooney/AP Photo)
A silver-sprayed 75-foot high Norway spruce sparkles after its 7,500 bulbs were lighted for the first time in Rockefeller Center, December 9, 1949 in New York. At the same time, flood lights from buildings in the center were beamed onto the promenade where 48-spray-like metal plumes, erected in the promenade, held pin-wheels designed as snow flakes. The signal for the lighting was given by Peggy, left, and Eileen Murphy, daughters of a Rockefeller center employee. This view is made, looking west from Fifth Avenue, down the promenade toward the plaza. (Photo by Tom Fitzsimmons/AP Photo)
This is a night view of the famous christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, seen through the Channel Gardens from Fifth Avenue, in December 1955. (Photo by AP Photo)
A 65-foot Norway Spruce, the 27th annual Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, is lowered into place at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, November 29, 1960. The tree, which came from Harford, Pa., and weighs about two-and-a-half tons, will be lit December 8. In the foreground is the statue of Prometheus overlooking the ice skating rink. (Photo by AP Photo)
Christmas Tree Decorations in New York City’s Rockefeller Center during the Christmas Holiday Season of 1959. (Photo by AP Photo)
This is a night view of the famous christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, seen through the Channel Gardens from Fifth Avenue, in December 1961. (Photo by AP Photo)
Ethel Kennedy, left, widow of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, brother of Robert, skate with a young girl at New York’s Rockefeller center skating rink, on December 18, 1971. It was the seventh annual Christmas ice skating party sponsored by friends and family of the late New York senator for youngsters of the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. (Photo by Jim Wells/AP Photo)
Christmas scenes at Rockefeller Center mall in New York City on December 17, 1974. (Photo by Dave Pickoff/AP Photo)
The 36 Rockettes go through a dance number as they rehearse for their Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall in New York in December 1963. (Photo by Dan Grossi/AP Photo)
Christmas trees take on a more festive look along Broadway and 85th Street in New York as a light snow descends on the Big Apple Thursday, December 14, 1995. (Photo by Monika Graff/AP Photo)
A few lone drivers brave the snowy weather conditions in New York during a windy snow storm that covered the tri-state area, Wednesday, December 25, 2002. (Photo by Larry Levine/AP Photo)
Animals destined for the stage of Radio City Music Hall in New York on November 13, 1986 are led to the stage door by their co-stars, the Rockettes dancers. A variety of animals, including camels, sheep and donkeys, will star in an annual Christmas production. (Photo by G. Paul Burnett/AP Photo)
As dawn breaks, Daniel Deschenes clears snow from the sidewalk in front of a stand where he is selling Christmas trees in the Upper East side neighborhood of New York Saturday December 6, 2003. (Photo by Tina Fineberg/AP Photo)
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree stands lit in front of the General Electric building in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza during the 71st annual treel lighting ceremony Wednesday, December 3, 2003 in New York. (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)
U.S. President Bill Clinton waves to well-wishers as he stops to view the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Plaza in New York, Monday, December 13, 1993. Clinton, in town for a fund raiser for Sen. Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., took time out of his schedule to do some holiday shopping and take in some of the traditional sites. (Photo by Doug Mills/AP Photo)
Duncan Herb, left, helps his father Peter Herb, behind at center, carry their Christmas tree home down Sixth Avenue in New York Saturday, December 18, 2004. (Photo by Gregory Bull/AP Photo)
A general view at the annual tree lighting ceremony and Christmas celebration at Rockefeller Center on December 3, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
The Empire State Building is seen lit in green and red Christmas colors December 23, 2009 in New York City. Christians worldwide are gearing up for the December 25 holiday honoring the birth of Jesus Christ. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
New Yorkers dressed as Santa Claus gather in Washington Square Park during the annual Santacon event December 12, 2009 in New York City. Santacon is a mass gathering of revelers dressed as Santa who take to the streets in cities across the country before Christmas. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Rockettes “herd” camels, donkeys and sheep into the Radio City Music Hall for their first day of rehearsals in the 2009 edition of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, running November 13 – December 30, 2009. (Photo by Amanda Schwab/Starpix)
Shoppers move about in Macy’s department store in Midtown Manhattan November 26, 2010 in New York City. Christmas shopping season is officially under way as Thanksgiving ends, and early signs point to a solid turnout for holiday shopping season. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Paul Chernosky, dressed as Santa Claus skates and entertains adults and children at the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center December 20, 2011 in New York City. With five days to go until Christmas, thousands of people flock to Rockefeller Center during the holiday season to look at the iconic Christmas tree, shop and ice skate at the rink. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Atmosphere at the 82nd Annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Rockefeller Center on December 3, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/WireImage)