Signs of the upcoming holiday at the end of December, Part 19

At Veselka.

And here's one food blogger's description of the soup:

Impossibly clear, the deepest ruby red, redolent of spices and earthy mushrooms, Veselka’s Christmas Borscht appears for maybe 45 days a year sometime around Thanksgiving and disappears with the New Year. Born out of the meatless Christmas eve dinner customary in Eastern European countries, the broth is made of beets, laced with vinegar and savory spices and is served with a few tiny mushroom pierogis and a delicate dusting of dill. I could eat this soup every day for the rest of my life and when it’s around I do my best.

(And don't worry if you missed the first 18 parts of this series. They're available on demand.)

Candlelight Caroling tonight in West Stuyvesant Square Park

Lordy I can still hear the drunken Santas butcher Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis" on East Fifth Street that one Saturday...

IT WAAAAAAAS DECEMBER 24TH ON HOllllllllllis AVENUUEEEE... uh, faa lala IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME IN HOLLLLIS QUEEEEEEEEENS!

[Pause]

Tonight at 5:30 in West Stuyvesant Square Park on Second Avenue and East 16th Street...

... there'll some classy holiday cheer...

Christmas, wrapped

Ninth Street near Avenue B.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the gas station...

Second Avenue and First Street last evening. Photos by Bobby Williams.

3 old-timey scenes from the holidays

Oh, just three old-timey holiday scenes from the Museum of the City of New York archives....

First, Macy's from 1944 (no photographer listed)...



And Sixth Avenue looking south from 22nd Street circa 1902 (by Byron Company) ...



Also on Sixth Avenue from 1902 (by Byron Company)... no address given, but that's certainly the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion that later became the Limelight...

Rite Aid sets the bar for Dec. 25

On 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

A stroll through Christmas Village

Or Second Avenue between Fifth Street and Fourth Sixth Street...

Yes, yes, yes — Christmas is coming, we get it

Lights, cameras: Rolf's unleashes its annual holiday extravaganza

So the holiday lights at Rolf's on Third Avenue at 22nd Street seem to be up a little bit earlier than usual...





Not sure what else to say on the matter. As EV Grieve wrote in November 2008:

It gets horribly crowded at Rolf's during the holidays, of course...Just grab a seat at the bar (if you can during off-peak hours)...the food is too heavy for my tastes (hmmm, suckling pig), unless I'm trying to spike the LDL level in my bloodstream. In any event, if Rolf's is mobbed, Paddy Macguire's down the street — between 19th and 20th — is a decent alternative for drinks during the holidays. They have some lights as well — and a much smaller carbon footprint.

Good advice!

Previously on EV Grieve):
'Tis the season for keeping ConEd in business: The holiday lights are up at Rolf's

Duane Reade puts out its Christmas decorations

Tompkins Square Park holiday tree goes dark

Last year, the Christmas tree lights were turned off on the Tompkins Square Park tree on Feb. 7.

This year, the lights were extinguished this past week...



The lights are still on the tree, though. So you could probably go turn it on...

So this is Christmas....

That special time of year when Rolf's ConEd bill quadruples

The holiday lights are up again at Rolf's, the German eatery on Third Avenue at 22nd Street. You'll find the usual: Some 70,000 light bulbs and Victorian-era tchochkes. Despite what the photos below show, it seemed a little less over the top than in previous years.

And please do not stare at any of the photos for too long: You may suffer a seizure. Or turn into a toddler.













Anyway, definitely worth seeing once. It gets awfully crowded with the office party crowd. So pick your time...

Previously on EV Grieve (who likes to use that same ConEd joke):
'Tis the season for keeping ConEd in business: The holiday lights are up at Rolf's