SLEIGH OF LIGHT
BLOOMINGDALE’S Lexington Avenue at 59th Street
THEME: “An Out of This World Holiday”
DRAWS: Bloomie’s marks the 50th anniversary of the moon landing with window after window of space-age displays. In one, robotic arms (above) slowly reach out to grab an ornament and, carefully, automatically attach it to a golden tree. Elon Musk might want to take notes. In another window, several blasélooking, nonbinary mannequins — imagine the Jetsons retooled by David Bowie — recline in what’s titled “A Stellar Soiree.” Several windows on the store’s Third Avenue side complete the show, including one with a microphone that lets you karaoke to “Jingle Bells” and a couple of other holiday chestnuts, though not between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. Judging from what we’ve heard, it’s best to stick to Lexington Avenue, where John Legend’s holiday album plays all through the day.
DON’T MISS: Inside the store are Ralph’s Winter Wonderland Polar Ice Bar, a Daily Harvest latte and coffee sampling counter, and what, in the shoe department, may well be the world’s largest Ugg.
MACY’S 34th Street at Herald Square
THEME: “Believe in the Wonder” DRAWS: Macy’s celebrates gal power with its story of Santa Girl, who’s determined to take a proactive role in holiday giving. The loosey-goosey narrative is told through neon lights, multiple Mylar-like Santas and a sweet giant of a dog named Willow (below), whose big dark nose pokes out of one window. Stroke it, and watch Willow’s hind leg come up for a good scratching. Or take the steering wheel at another window and pilot Santa Girl’s truck. As one young boy jerked it back and forth the other day, his mother sighed. “You’ve been in New York too long already,” she said.
DON’T MISS: Holiday Lane. On Macy’s ninth floor, just east of the recliners, lies a winter wonderland of trees, ornaments, nutcrackers and stockings. It’s here that you can write a letter to Santa or book (via the Internet) a visit with the big man himself, now ensconced in Santaland on the eighth floor. And you thought a table at Rao’s was hard to reserve!
FIFTH AVENUE ASSOCIATION Four locations, between 54th and 56th streets
THEME: “New York Nostalgia”
DRAWS: Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does the Fifth Avenue Association. Stung by the loss of Barneys, Bendel’s, Lord & Taylor and other Midtown stalwarts, the group unveiled a quartet of windows to fill in the blank spots — some more Instagramfriendly than others.
DON’T MISS: The sprawling faux gingerbread skyline at 689 Fifth Ave. Titled “A Bite for All,” it looks good enough to nibble.
SAKS FIFTH AVENUE Fifth Avenue at 50th Street
THEME: Disney’s “Frozen 2” DRAWS: You’ve seen the movie — now see the windows! Six beautifully detailed tableaux inspired by the film depict Elsa, Anna, Olaf and friends on a journey through forests, fires and ice. Elsa, the ice queen, gets most of the window time, leading one little girl to ask, hopefully, “Another Anna?” Each window is wreathed in faux evergreens and twinkling lights. Every night after dusk, the store’s Fifth Avenue facade becomes a light show unto itself.
DON’T MISS: The Enchanted Forest Experience. Up on the ninth floor is an immersive journey through four rooms rife with perky performers, realistic-looking birch trees, lots of fog and — spoiler alert! — a photo op with Elsa and Anna. Timed tickets are $5 at ShowClix.com; proceeds benefit the New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.
NORDSTROM 57th Street at Broadway
THEME: “Festive Scandinavian Holiday”
DRAWS: For its first holiday season in New York City, Nordstrom’s elves worked feverishly through Thanksgiving to unveil Friday some 50 miles of twinkling lights, more than 700 Scandinavian-inspired ornaments, 120 trimmed trees and 150 Sputnik-esque chandeliers like the ones at the Metropolitan Opera. There are also three pop-up holiday gift shops — the one on the first floor featuring curated gifts by RuPaul, Chloë Sevigny and Bill Nye the Science Guy, who personally selected that bow tie. As for that Scandinavian theme: It’s a nod to store founder John W. Nordstrom, who was born in Sweden. Immigrants! They get the job done!
DON’T MISS: The daily parades at 6 p.m. (and 2 p.m. on weekends) in which Santa comes ho-ho-ing down the escalator, accompanied by fake snow and a live Dixieland jazz band.