From the world’s largest parade to a fireworks extravaganza to mammoth feasts, New Yorkers know how to throw a holiday party!

In our first Holiday chapter we commemorated New York’s winter festivities: marching in the Thanksgiving Parade, igniting a giant menorrah, decorating a famous tree, and watching a big ball descend in Times Square. Now it’s time for Part 2: featuring Spring, Summer and Autumn celebrations. We’ll find that the Big Apple does not let up on holiday hooplah no matter what the season.

Valentine’s Day

Before you buy a bunch of pretty roses and a cutesy Hallmark card for your beloved, you might consider the true history of this “romantic” day: it’s filled with violence, bloodshed, and lots of ceremonial beatings.

As you probably know, the whole thing started with Saint Valentine. He ran afoul of Emperor Claudius II, who had banned marriages in ancient Rome so that men would concentrate on making war, not love. Valentine secretly wedded couples, and so was summarily imprisoned, beaten, stoned and decapitated on February 14, 270 A.D. Wait, it gets better.

Romans also celebrated the pagan February festival of Lupercaia, which included a fertility ritual that involved the slapping of women with blood-soaked goat hides. The festival culminated in a giant lottery: single women had to place their names in a giant urn, from which bachelors chose their mate for the coming year. Surprisingly, many of these couplings ended in marriage.

But it was New Yorkers (of course) who turned the tables on these macho machinations. Beginning in 1600s New Amsterdam, the Dutch colonists celebrated Vrowen Dagh, or Woman’s Day. Every unmarried woman was outfitted with a sizeable whip, with which to beat any single man in town. Young lads were sure to receive multiple strokes; the more lashes, the more marriage-eligible the lad. This practice continued for over two centuries, when it was finally replaced by the Valentine’s Day we know and love (or hate) in the mid-1800s.

Today, men (mostly) send over one billion Valentines cards on the big day, along with 36 million boxes of chocolates and 110 million roses. I guess those whippings worked! 

Saint Patrick’s Day

This is another big New York parade day – in fact, it’s the biggest parade in the world! The first Saint Patrick’s Day Parade was held in the city way back on March 17, 1762, fourteen years before the Declaration of Independence. The parade began at a tavern and ended at a tavern, a familiar route to today’s revelers. The festivities became supersized when the great Irish migration, caused by the potato famine, began in the 1840s. To this day, the parade remains true to its roots: no decorated floats or commercial endorsements are allowed along the 1.5 mile march. Wearing green, speaking in brogue, and dancing to the pipes are definitely encouraged.

The hungry, impoverished Irish landing in New York were hungry no more: here was more corned beef than they’d ever seen in their starving homeland, at an amazingly cheap cost (the Jewish population made most of it.) For Saint Pat’s Day, Irish pubs offer this and lots of other favorites, such as cabbage, potatoes, shepherd’s pie, stew and soda bread, inviting the entire city to join in the feast! One of NYC’s most notable features is its wealth of Irish bars...there seems to be one on every block.

In 1914, a Bronx doctor attending a St. Patrick’s celebration in Morrisania added a few drops of blue food coloring to his brewski; green beer was born...another New York invention. For the most authentic Irish drinking experience, head to the 170-year-old McSorley’s in the East Village, but expect a raucous crowd which arrives for breakfast and spends the entire day there.

Purim

This somewhat raucous religious celebration usually falls in March. It commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation by the hated Haman, thanks to Mordecai and his cousin Esther (the day revolves around these three central characters.) Compared to other somber holidays, it’s an uncharacteristically joyous festival for Jews around the world.

The first of four mitzot (plural of mitzvah, or commendment) begins the night before, when folks gather at their synagogues to hear the reading of the Megillah, containing the Book of Esther. Whenever Haman’s name is mentioned, the crowd boos, hisses, stomps their feet and spins their noisy rattles around, as a way to blot out his name (this almost never happens in the church I attend!)

The next mitzvah is rejoicing (Jews are actually required to be happy on Purim!) Family and friends masquerade in outlandish, even sacrilegious costumes, no holds barred...lots of little rabbis and Queen Esthers can be found mimicking their elders. It’s time to make fun and merriment!

The third mitzvah concerns...you guessed it: food, especially sharing it with family and neighbors. Central to the holiday are the triangular pastries known as hamantaschen, filled with fruit, nuts or poppy seeds. Available at many bakeries and appetizing stores, they are scrumptious. Another tradition is Kreplach, meat-filled dumplings served in soup, as well as Ojos de Haman (“eyes of Haman,”) a head-shaped bread with eggs for eyes. Even the food gets to masquerade!

The final mitzvah is being charitable, giving gifts to the poor, lending a hand to someone in need. This best mitzvah is saved for last.

Easter

This most sacred of Christian holidays, which is preceded by Lent, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, honors the last days of Christ, His Crucifixion and Resurrection. So why the eggs and bunnies? Since it’s a springtime holiday, eggs symbolize fertility and re-birth, and the Easter Bunny is a remnant of German folklore. Today, coloring and hiding eggs, assembling children’s baskets, and consuming candy are all part of the holiday’s commercialized celebration.

Also called Paschal eggs (or pysanky), the decorating of eggs is quite an old custom. Colored eggs have been found in Africa, dating back 60,000 years! Ancient Mesopotamian, Greek and Egyptian cultures associated eggs with death and rebirth, which the Christian church adopted. For many years eggs were forbidden during Lent, so people ate as many as possible on Shrove Tuesday (before Lent began) often in the form of pancakes. The art of exquisitely detailed painted eggs, originating in Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania, was brought to the city by immigrants and continues to this day.

One wild NYC Easter tale is of a big dinner given by a hostess in the 19th century. She had a thing for European “peephole” eggs, and had an irrepressible urge to dine inside one! Artisans were hired to build a gigantic canvas egg which could accommodate her sixty guests. Halfway through the dinner the company began dropping in their tracks (at that time the science of ventilation was not advanced.) The evening was cut short as oxygen-starved victims staggered out of the giant egg, onto the street, and home to their beds.

Besides the ubiquitous eggs, celebrants enjoy Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday. There are fine examples of these in many bakeries around town. On Easter Sunday, the meal can include fish, lamb or ham, followed by carrot cake and a sweet Easter Bread, studded with colored eggs, an Italian and Eastern European tradition.

New Yorkers just can’t help staging a holiday parade, and Easter is no exception. In the 1850s, ladies and gents attending Trinity Church in their new Spring duds strolled up and down lower Broadway after the service. Reports of what the paraders wore appeared in The New York Times, which exclaimed “The Fashion Parade is as splendid a procession as could be found in the world.” By the 20th century, after the parade moved to Fifth Avenue in midtown, things got out of hand. Women wore huge, bizarre bonnets containing live bunnies and birds, the wilder the better! One bonnet contained a full model of the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, Roman soldiers, and a live parakeet. Some dressed up their dogs. Photographer’s platforms snarled traffic. In 1953 the city banned the costumed pets, hats with live animals, and photographer’s platforms. Today the Easter Parade is but a shadow of its former silliness.

Passover

In all cultures around the world, sharing a meal together is one of the hallmarks of humanity. In Judaism, food is sacred. So the Passover Seder meal is a powerful representation of culture and faith. One of its main purposes is to teach children (and the uninitiated) via the Haggadah (the telling of the Passover story.)

The 7 - 8 day celebration commemorates the exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egypt. The cleaning of the house, removal of all leaven, washing of hands and lighting of candles all carry significance. The Seder Plate holds the symbolic foods, shared by all. Each is integral to the ritual: bitter herbs represent slavery, Charoset (sweet mixture of fruit and nuts) represents the slaves’ mortar, Karpas (vegetable) are the tears of the slaves, a lamb shank recalls the blood painted on slave’s doors, and a roasted egg is in remembrance of the sacrifice at the Temple.

Then comes the main meal...just like Grandma used to make! Matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish, chopped liver (with lots of schmaltz,) brisket, flanken, chicken, salmon, latkes, vegetables, salads, kugel, tzimmes (vegetable stew), and endless matzoh.  

You may be surprised that all of this food was available in the impoverished Jewish neighborhood of the Lower East Side. In fact, by 1899, in this one tiny area, there were 131 butchers, 36 bakeries, 21 fruit and vegetable stands, and 60 delicatessens (not to mention countless peddlers and pushcarts.) Food is central to the Jewish community, and its preparation, preservation, and merchandising have created countless jobs and incomes, bringing many families out of poverty.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a New York City holiday without a parade! Between 1901 and 1918 the Jewish community gathered on the Lower East Side for a fashion spectacle, akin to the Easter Parade. This Passover Parade began with crowds pouring out of synagogues wearing their holiday best. One newspaper proclaimed it “the most beautiful Pesach (Passover) ever since the district became Jewish.” It also functioned as a matchmaking event: shadchans (matchmakers) attended in great numbers, pairing up eligible couples.

Moving Day

While not exactly a holiday, you had better mark this on your calendar if you lived in the city before World War II. Since Colonial times, May 1 was the day that all rental leases in New York City expired simultaneously. Everyone who did not renew had to move all their belongings to another residence, everyone on the same day. What a madhouse! Since many New Yorkers wouldn’t be caught dead renting the same place for two years, a majority of the populace filled the streets, trying to obtain carts to carry their household goods (there were never enough carts, so cart rentals cost a fortune.) By the 20th century over one million people were caught up in the moving madness, creating a city-wide pandemonium that is little remembered today.

Juneteenth

This holiday commemorates the end of slavery after the Civil War, celebrated by African Americans since the late 1800s. It is also referred to as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day. In 2021, President Biden signed legislation that made June 19th a federal holiday, after interest in the day was renewed following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. After the COVID-19 pandemic, New York and other cities have ramped up their Juneteenth festivities in recent times.

Often celebrated by families in their backyards or local parks, food is an essential element, especially red foods such as red velvet cake, strawberries and watermelon. Traditional southern foods are also served, with red touches added, like collard green with red peppers, and black eyed peas with red rice.

If you’d like to join the celebration, I’d recommend a visit to NYC’s Africa Center, African Burial Ground, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, or the communities of Sandy Ground in Staten Island and Weeksville in Brooklyn, which holds a fabulous Juneteenth Food Festival.

Independence Day

Often called “The 4th of July,” New York’s celebration always includes Mr. Macy (again) and his Fireworks Spectacular, which annually moves back and forth between the East River and the Hudson (during COVID-19, five separate shows were launched for each of the boroughs, lasting five minutes apiece.) Many folks hold barbecues, parties in the parks, rooftop soirées, and endless tavern toasts.

However, in the 19th century there was a sensational July 4th foodfest in Gotham, described here by English visitor Frederick Marrayat in 1837:

“On each side of the whole length of Broadway, were ranged booths and stands, displaying plates of oysters, clams sweltering in the hot sun, pineapples, boiled hams, pies, puddings, and many other indescribables. But what was remarkable, Broadway being three miles long, and the booths lining each side of it, in every booth there was a roast pig as the center attraction. Six miles of roast pig!”

Another big feast took place in Washington Square Park, when it first opened to the public on July 4, 1826. It was a real old-fashioned fête featuring historic New York food favorites, including two whole roasted oxen, 200 hams, and ale for 10,000 attendees.

This time-honored “freedom” to stuff oneself with food continues today, with the popular July 4th hot dog eating contest at Nathan’s in Coney Island. Begun as a promotional event in 1972, it has grown into an extravaganza of blasting music, splashy staging, riotous enthusiasm and ritualistic carnivorism. (More about Nathan’s in the hot dog chapter.)  

Labor Day

Most cities feature a Labor Day Parade, with marching union members interspersed with high school bands (New York’s is the biggest.) But there is one slam-bang, raucous, euphonious parade to out-parade them all: Brooklyn’s West Indian Parade on Eastern Parkway, a day-long carnival of calypso and steel drum bands, lots of feathers, sequins and skin, and plenty of food vendors offering Caribbean treats like jerk chicken, plantains, curries, coconut shrimp, spicy goat, meat patties, peas and rice, and tropical drinks galore. You may want to come in a group and bring ear plugs and Tums. It’s a hot, beating, seething scene!

Rosh Hashanah

This two-day holiday marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year, and is widely celebrated in NYC, home to nearly one million Jews. There’s no place like the Big Apple to immerse yourself in the traditions and spirit of this important holiday. There are many synagogues which welcome visitors, as well as the remarkable Museum at Eldridge Street in Chinatown, with one of the most spectacular stained glass windows you’ll ever see.

The holiday begins with the sound of the shofar, or ram’s horn. You can take part in a Tashlich ceremony near the waterfront, where individuals cast off their sins by throwing breadcrumbs into the water. There is much excitement and festivities throughout the town, such as klezmer concerts, picnics and rooftop parties.

And then there’s the food...dipping apple slices in honey will sweeten the year ahead, and biting into a round challah will remind you of the cyclical nature of time. Many restaurants offer special Rosh Hashanah menus, including the marvelous, never-changing Katz’s Delicatessen on Houston Street. Want a home-cooked meal? Head to Zabar’s on the Upper West Side and stock up on the essentials. Remember to wish your friends L’Shanah Tovah – here’s to a good new year!

Yom Kippur

Following Rosh Hashanah is Judaism’s most sacred day of the year, known as the Day of Atonement. It is observed with a 25-hour fast, in order to cleanse the body and spirit. However, on the eve before Yom Kippur many folks gather for a bountiful, high-carb, meat-heavy feast to gather strength for the lengthy fast. Then, after the final service, they “break the fast” with a big spread of breakfast foods such as blintzes, noodle pudding, bagels and lox, and baked treats such as dense, luscious honey cake.

Halloween

Okay, if we’re talking Halloween foods, there’s only one thing to discuss: candy. Candy in all shapes and sizes, given away free to kids and secretly enjoyed by their parents. Overstuffed bags and plastic pumpkins overflow with candy. This is the one holiday the dentists celebrate with glee.

According to the Times, New York was “the pre-eminent candy city of the world, with more establishments engaged in its manufacture than any other city on earth.” So many of our favorite treats were invented and manufactured in “The Big Candy Apple” (the title of the Candy chapter.) When your bag is full of Tootsie Rolls, Turkish Taffy, Bazooka Bubble Gum, Jujyfruits, Dots, Peeps, lollipops, chewing gum, and hundreds of other brand-named sugar bombs, you can rejoice that all were first made in New York City.

And yes, it wouldn’t be a New York holiday without the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. There are few rules governing this eclectic, uproarious march; all you need is a costume and you’re in!

I know I’ve left out some holidays such as Ramadan (the month-long Muslim fasting event,) Diwali (the Hindu “Festival of Lights”,) Cinco de Mayo (the celebration of Mexican-American culture,) the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and many others. But we’re already reaching book-length here, and I’d rather have you celebrating than staring at your screen. So get out there and join the party!