We Deserve Better Christmas Markets

Historically, Christmastime in New York is unparalleled. Thousands of street artists have captured the light dusting of snow that used to befall Central Park and the crowds that gather around Rockefeller Center. Films like Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) paint the city as a wintry paradise, but today’s New York is vastly different. The temperatures are warmer, the ice rinks are more crowded, and the shopping culture is extremely corporate. Though New York’s Christmas markets are popular tourist destinations, they represent a festivity that is dying in favor of corporate capitalism.

A visit to the city’s Union Square Market is enough to prove such an inkling. Though the list of vendors is extensive, the exorbitant prices of leather gloves and stationery are enough to scare away even those with the thickest wallets. The booths are well-lit but share the same green roofs characteristic of city scaffolding. 

The dynamic of popularity also seems to indicate where our interest in the Christmas market is going. In the summer, Union Square Park is bordered by vendors selling prints of old New Yorker covers, jewelry, and other specialty products on the cheap. In the winter, these vendors are displaced by small businesses in booths offering the same products at much higher prices. Though some private artists have their own stalls, I noticed during my visit that those stalls received limited engagement. These designs capture much of the grandeur and allure of New York City’s aesthetics, but when they’re being printed in front of your face and sold for $20 a pop to cover rent, that allure is diminished.

The food at Union Square is palatable but overpriced. If you look hard enough, you’ll find the apple cider doughnut shops and some taco vendors, but prices are often high enough to deter families from grabbing food for themselves. After all, if you’re going to pay restaurant prices, you might as well visit a restaurant. With that being said, the market’s sweets warrant a visit—various dessert items, like chocolate-covered strawberries and doughnuts, are prepared with care and certainly sweet enough to satisfy the craziest sugar hounds.

Though New York’s Christmas traditions are steeped in historic heritage, Christmas markets are a more recent addition. They are far more common fixtures in Germany and other central European nations, where traditional marketplaces still thrive. The “Weihnachtsmarkt am Dom,” located in Cologne, Germany, demonstrates elements that New York’s Christmas markets should adopt in pursuit of success.

Like the city itself, New York’s main Christmas markets are structured in grids. This allows you to see down long distances, but it makes exploring the shops a less exciting experience; oftentimes, if something down the row catches your attention, you might skip by other shops on your way to it. Though it’s easy to get lost in Cologne’s twisting and turning market, you can easily immerse yourself in it and its vendors by simply letting go of your sense of direction and allowing your mind and body to wander. Once you have finished your shopping, you’ll find the exits quickly with a glance towards the large fir-covered gates leading to the cathedral.

Though the market does also feature some specialty international products, vendors make it clear that they’re here to honor certain traditions of the German Christmas: chestnuts, Gluehwein, model homes, local embroidery, and of course the classic “Christmas sausage,” a white sausage dusted with cinnamon and nutmeg with a sauce of your choice. The vendors at these markets know what their niches are and have reasonable pricing. Even the most niche candle vendors always have visitors. If New York wishes to host engaging Christmas markets for visitors and locals alike, we have to revisit the question—what defines a New York Christmas? The Rockettes, oversized trees, and ice skates are good places to start. We should be selling goods that are specialties but aren’t upcharged because they are at the market. Rather, the market should serve as a publicity platform for vendors to share their unique wares with the city.

Finally, the food. Germany’s Christmas market food is relatively monogamous but well done. Each item is scrumptiously prepared before the viewers, and families with market heritage often return annually to sell their home-recipe meals. Though the “Christmas sausage” is a popular sausage at Cologne’s “Markt zum Engel” (literally meaning Market to the Angel), most markets prepare a hot red or white sausage that is savory and juicy. Market crepes are typically prepared with Germany’s famous Nutella and covered in powdered sugar, making them a popular hot and sweet snack. One can also indulge in a warm, melt-in-your-mouth “Baumkuchen” (tree cake) prepared by hand with insane amounts of sugar and cinnamon, sometimes even featuring a fruit flavor on request. Analogous to the hot chocolate of New York’s markets is “Glühwein” (glow wine)—a cheaper wine or sparkling grape juice that is combined with sugar, cinnamon, and other mild spices to be served piping hot by the glass. 

The German offerings are impressive, with each market having its own unique spin on the relatively basic food offerings. However, when it comes to food, New York has the largest opportunity to distinguish itself—as a city defined by diverse immigrant populations, the city’s restaurants are dotted with dishes from around the world. Bring these dishes to the Christmas markets, prepared with the same homemade love and similar prices to those of the restaurants they come from. Of course, New York is an expensive city, and the New York surcharge will be felt everywhere, but it is cruel to ask patrons to pay $15 and upwards for a small snack.

This is not to say that New Yorkers and the city have completely given up on Christmas traditions, but with the loss of the Saks Holiday Light Show, which used to dazzle tourists and locals alike, it feels like corporate traditions have given up on us. We can only hope that the corporations running these markets return to their inspiration, the Christmas markets of central Europe, while integrating the flair and passion brought by the multiculturalism that defines our city.