The Lame Little Christmas Tree that They’ve Put Up in Grand Army Plaza this Year
by Ian F. King
A friend of mine was the last person in New York City who had never been to see the Christmas tree (or “Holiday tree,” if you prefer) at Rockefeller Center, so last Saturday we went to remedy that. After coping with the insane crowd long enough to get a couple of pictures to prove she’d finally seen it, I asked what other holiday-related things she hadn’t seen in that part of town. We went over to watch the ice skaters in Central Park for a minute, then headed over to Columbus Circle, which had a small holiday market and some trees with cool blue LED lights on them in front of the shopping center. Then we got on the train home.
On the way back to Brooklyn, I asked if she had seen the giant light cone they put up every year under the arch in Grand Army Plaza. She had not. If you also have not, it looks like this:
It had been up every holiday dating back at least the three years since I moved out here, and though not a real tree with lights on it, it was still pretty cool, especially as the lights continuously changed colors. It was also cooler than the giant menorah they put up every year across the street by the park entrance, which, though cool in its own right because apparently it is the world’s largest, lacks pizazz.
As we got off the train and walked toward the arch, I started talking up the light cone in anticipation, legitimately enthused about my neighborhood’s contribution to the world of overgrown holiday decorations. When we saw the arch though, I was severely dismayed. The light cone was not there, and in it’s place was a real tree, not much larger than one you’d find in an ordinary suburban home, with a few strings of lights on it.
It seems inexplicable that the giant light cone has gone missing this year. Did the city of Brooklyn have to sell it off due to the recession? Can they not afford the electric bill this year? Did they just forget? The menorah was right where it has been, so clearly they’re not just late getting the decorations up. The little tree they have there now is a sad replacement. The trip was a bust. I pulled out my phone and showed my friend a picture of the light cone I had taken a couple of years ago.
Happy Holidays!
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Brooklyn has decided, perhaps as a statement about how much the giant light cone cost in years past, to keep the rinky-dink replacement tree at Grand Army Plaza lit up all day and all night long. When I saw the glowing blue and green lights at noon the other day, I sighed.
December 16, 2009 @ 9:16 pm
This thing was dismantled, and cut into beams for the Tasteful Scandinavian Holiday Light Cube things up on Hamilton Ave. which really do exist god dammit.