Spirit of the Season: A Calendar of Holiday Fun

Plenty of holiday events are happening all over Downtown this month. Here’s a run-down of what’s happening.


The Civic Center Synagogue, 49 White St., has its annual Chanukkah Party on Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m. There will be a candle-lighting, latkes and other holiday foods, a latin jazz band and games. Admission: $20. Call 966-7141.
The Downtown Synagogue is having a children’s candle-lighting ceremony on Dec. 3 at 6:15 p.m.with latkes and donuts, and a Chanukkah Party on Dec. 7 at 9:30 p.m. with food and games. Both are at The Hallmark at 455 North End Ave. Call 938-1111.
“The Chanukkah Story,” with Ladino, Yiddish, Israeli and American songs, will be performed in the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden on Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m.
Following tradition, the Winter Garden will be decorated all month with 100,000 holiday lights, which will be turned on during a ceremony on Dec. 2, 6 p.m. The 100-member Metro Mass Choir will perform gospel music and holiday classics.
The Winter Garden also hosts The Bottom Line’s “Downtown Messiah,” a free performance on Dec. 17, 6:30 p.m. Handel’s masterpiece will be interpreted by folk, jazz, rock, gospel and bluegrass musicians, including Jane Siberry, Terre Roche and Dar Williams.
There will be afternoons of a capella caroling at the World Financial Center. The octet Tapestry performs on Dec. 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 20 and 23, 12:30—1:30 p.m. The Accidentals sing on Dec. 6, 9, 11, 16, 18, 19 and 24, noon, and Dec. 7, 8, 21 and 22, 1 p.m.
Santa and his elves will visit the Winter Garden to pose for photos with children Dec. 13–15 and 18–22, weekdays, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. and 4–7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Battery Park City’s annual tree-lighting ceremony will take place at South Cove on Dec. 5. Meet at 5:45 p.m. for the 6:15 tree lighting. The menorah will be lit at sundown. The Roches and children from Battery Park Synagogue will sing holiday songs, Santa is expected, and there will be free cider and hot chocolate. Please bring an unwrapped gift or item of clothing for Stockings With Care/Dreidels With Care program, which gives gifts to homeless children.
Christmas in Washington Market Park is on Dec. 15, 2–4 p.m. Santa will visit and there will be treats for everyone. Please bring a new, unwrapped gift (with batteries, if needed), for Toys for Tots and used coats for the coat drive.
At the South Street Seaport, the annual Singing Chorus Tree is back. Perched in the branches of a 50-foot-tall blue spruce, located between Water and South streets, members of the Big Apple Chorus will sing carols and Hanukkah songs through Jan. 1 on Fridays at 6 and 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 3 and 4 p.m., and on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.
Santa will be at the Seaport daily through Christmas Eve, Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m. and Sundays and Christmas Eve until 5 p.m. Kids can pose with Santa for photos in the Pier 17 atrium, Monday through Friday, 1–4 p.m., Saturdays, 12–2 p.m. and 5:30–7 p.m., and Sundays, 12–2 p.m.
Kids learn about holiday games from around the world, and make their own game, at the South Street Seaport Museum on Dec. 14–15, 1–4 p.m. at the Melville Gallery, 213 Water St. There is a $5 materials fee. Fran Manushkin will read her books, “Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story,” and “Hooray for Hanukkah!” Call 748-8758 for times.
The Living Word Church offers free gift-wrapping on Dec. 13, 3–7 p.m., and Dec 15, 2–6 p.m., in the lobby of 40 Harrison St. at Independence Plaza. The church is also holding a Christmas party on Dec. 14, with food, entertainment and free gifts, in the community room, at 310 Greenwich St., 2nd floor. All are welcome.
Celebrate the holidays on Dec. 14. with a party hosted by the Battery Park City Parents Association. The event, open to everyone, is from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Embassy Suites Hotel. Hot chocolate, cookies, entertainment and a sing-along for all faiths. Free for members, $10 per family for non-members.
On Dec. 4, 10:30 a.m., the Tribeca Performing Arts Center will present Tales and Scales: Arabian Nights for children and on Dec. 15, 3 p.m. there is a free annual community sing along. On Dec. 18, 10:30 a.m., there will be a performance of Little Princess Christmas. Call 220-1460.
The New Amsterdam Library, at 9 Murray St., will have storytelling for children ages 3-8 on Dec. 4, 4 p.m.; a musical gourds workshop for ages 5-12, on Dec. 11, 4 p.m.; and Christmas crafts for ages 4-12, on Dec. 17, 4 p.m.
The Living Word Church’s Christmas service will take place on Dec. 22, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at the Knitting Factory, 78 Leonard St. A New Year’s service will be held on Dec. 29, 12—5 p.m. at the Knitting Factory.
The Trinity Choir and Rebel Baroque Orchestra perform Handel’s Messiah at Trinity Church, Broadway and Wall streets, on Dec. 15, 2 p.m. Tickets: $25—$45. The one-hour Christmas portion of Messiah will be sung on Dec. 6, 1 p.m. Tickets: $25. Call 279-4200.
Trinity Church will also have services, choir performances and carol singing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Call 602-0872 for details.
For a real taste of the holiday season, Church Street School for Music and Art, 74 Warren St., offers its annual Gingerbread House Decorating fundraiser. Children and adults decorate their own edible six-inch-tall houses. Workshops are Dec. 7, 14 and 21, 2:15 and 4 p.m., and Dec. 8, 15 and 22, 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The fee is $60 per house for enrolled students, $65 for others, $70 after Dec. 8. Call 571-7290. The school will also sell children’s books and other gift items at its Scholastic book fair, Dec. 7–22.
There are also holiday cookie workshops offered by the Art Institute of New York City (formerly the New York Restaurant School), at 75 Varick St. Classes are Dec. 7 and 14, 10 a.m.—2 p.m., and cost $50 per person. Call 226-5500, ext. 6027 to reserve.