By Gus Saltonstall
Broadway malls throughout the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights will be lit up beginning this week.
The Broadway Mall Association will host its annual Winter Lighting Ceremony in Verdi Square at 73rd Street and Broadway on Tuesday at 5 p.m. There will be live performances by the Reaching Arts Choir and Fordham Lincoln Center’s A capella group.
Lights will be put up in the Broadway medians from West 70th to West 168th streets.
This year’s rendition of the event is sponsored by Zabar’s in honor of its 90th anniversary, which will be marked with special orange and white lights on the malls between West 78th and 82nd streets.
“The winter lighting ceremony highlights our dedication to beautifying the malls,” Bob Herrmann, the chairman of the Broadway Mall Association, said in a news release. “It’s an opportunity to bring our community together and celebrate the progress we’ve made in creating a greener, more sustainable Broadway.”
Along with the holiday season, the lighting ceremony is also a celebration of the ongoing native plant restoration of the Broadway malls. The organization’s restoration work within the Broadway malls in the past year unlocked additional New York state and city funds to match a previous private donation that will ensure additional restorations over the next three years.
The Broadway Mall Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the upkeep of the Broadway malls through art, horticulture, and community engagement.
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Couldn’t this money be better spent?
On what? What’s wrong with a little holiday cheer? See the Dr. Seuss quote below.
Most money could be better spent.
“That’s a noise,” grinned the Grinch, “That I simply MUST hear!”
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow.
But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
The lights bring out foot traffic and shoppers to Broadway.
The Broadway Mall holiday lights should look as dazzling and spectacular as West 67th Street…between C.P.W. & Columbus Ave.
Unfortunately, they go skimpy on the budget & labor instead of creating that holiday cheer WOW factor.
Remember the stunning outdoor lighting on the old Tavern-On-The-Green? All the trees wrapped in lighting splendor?
That’s what Broadway Holiday Magic should look like!!
The two prior comments say that too much or two little was spent on the lights. I think about the right amount was spent. They do need this donated funds (from businesses and residential buildings) to keep up the center malls year-round.
The lights on 67th Street are paid for by ABC/Disney.
“That’s a noise,” grinned the Grinch, “That I simply MUST hear!”
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow.
But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
I volunteered in the Broadway Malls from 101st St to 104th St. from 1991 to 2003. I called the Parks Department and asked them if I could, because the Broadway Malls Association had no presence at that time. When I went to pick up my tools from Parks (a shovel and rake), the man asked me where I was going to work. I told him the Broadway Malls; he said “Knock yourself out!” I cleaned out the blocks (including major pieces like bed frames, sofa pillows, LOTS of garbage, bike parts, and drug paraphernalia), pulled out weeds, let flowers that were there grow, and started to learn about all of the plants out there, including the trees. I became a Citizen Pruner so I could take care of the smaller trees and shrubs. I planted 100s of daffodil bulbs and got day lilies from the Riverside Park Conservancy to plant in the end beds and other places. I bought rose bushes that matched the ones already there (Betty Pryor) and put them in. I tried to keep people from camping out there (it was the ’90s and crack), and I advocated for the Malls as real parkland. In June, 2003, I was told I could no longer volunteer in the Malls, because someone wanted to make a major contribution to the Broadway Malls Association, but on the condition that the money went to professional “landscapers” and a volunteer was no longer necessary. The Parks Dept. told me I had to leave, but gave me no option as to another location. I went to the Riverside Park Conservancy (at that time, Fund), who I had worked with for several years in another capacity, and asked them if they needed someone. I have worked in a section of the Firemen’s Memorial Island for the last 21 years, from 101st St., to 103rd St. NYC parks need volunteers, and despite the growth of the various conservancies and associations, still do. Check out volunteer opportunities in your local park!