Walking NYC...
A StrayCat Finds Holiday Magic on City Streets
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| Lord&Taylor Fifth Avenue |
I chuckled as I passed Bergdorf Goodman’s
at 58th and
Fifth Avenue the day after Christmas 2015.
I
did more than just chuckled. I stopped, stared and shook my head amazed when I
spotted two very attractive,
very fashionably dressed middle-aged women exiting the store. They moved
effortlessly arm-in-arm, step-for-step, an impossible feat on an avenue
bustling shoulder-to-shoulder with people gaping at the store’s spectacular
holiday windows.
Two
women, from Milan, I learned later, visiting the city for Christmas, and
dressed stylishly blended
perfectly with the glamour of Fifth Avenue’s (or Cortina d’Ampezzo, St. Mortiz,
or Aspen’s) haute couture boutiques. One woman wore a white Moncler coat, her suntanned
face tucked inside its fur-lined hood. Her friend had on a black Bogner Ski
Jacket with fur-lined collar and cuffs. A slouchy dark knit slouchy hat with a
fur pom covered her head. Large silver framed Gucci sunglasses masked her eyes.
Both wore gloves, mid-calf length shearling boots with rolled over shearling
tops and large scarves loosely draped around their neck. Yes! They looked
stunning as if they just left a photo shoot of Town and Country or Quest,
magazines for the affluent.
You
may wonder why I smirked and raised my brows when I saw these two women? For one
the three twenty-something dudes walking in front of them offered a contrast of
styles. One had a hoodie and short pants, another had on only a tee shirt,
shorts and Santa hat, and the third guy wore a long sleeve NY Ranger shirt and
torn jeans.
Second,
the temperature hit 66 degrees, a city record for the date. On Christmas the
temperatures soared to 72 degrees, also a new record, with a low a 63, numbers more
in tune to a Los Angeles Christmas than a New York City one.
Shirtless
volleyball players competed in Central Park, surfers tackled better than
average waves at Rockaway Beach, and runners in tank tops and shorts worked up
a sweat jogging in Hudson River Park. In
several neighboring suburban beach towns the temperature went as high as 76,
several degrees warmer than July 4 of this year.
Okay
maybe this year pushcart vendors sold fewer roasted nuts and pretzels, and
Starbucks may have had disappointing sales
hawking their gingerbread lattes or eggnog frappuccinos but the spirit of the
season glowed as strong as ever.
Rain,
sleet, snow, frigid weather, or unseasonally high temperatures can never have a negative impact on the city’s long-standing
reputation as one of the world’s great stages for celebrating Christmas and the
New Year.
What the Straycat saw as he darted from 60th Street to Herald Square.
Bloomingdale's
