New York Botanical Garden Brings Holiday Spirit

If your children are young enough to believe in Santa Claus, don’t miss the New York Botanical Garden’s Annual Holiday Train Show, which marks the official start of the season in the city. This year, NYBG’s collection of re-created iconic Manhattan buildings will also include 25 large-scale model trains, which will make their way along a nearly half-mile-long track, traveling past re-created landmarks from all five of New York City’s boroughs, as well as from the Hudson River Valley and other scenic locations throughout the state.

Photo: Ashley Werter | Dreamstime

This year’s show, the 26th in the event’s history, will showcase more than 150 models, all New York buildings and landmarks, crated by Paul Busse’s team at Applied Imagination.

The creations are constructed of such natural materials as bark, twigs, stems, fruit, seeds and pinecones. Even newbies to New York will likely recognize some of the most iconic sites, such as the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Terminal and the original Yankee Stadium.

New this year are models of the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, General Electric Building and St. Bartholomew’s Church.

The exhibition will be set in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and will run Nov. 22–Jan. 15, 2018.

Photo: Jose Terrero | Dreamstime

Those who don’t know the city will find the NYBG easy to get to. Located just 20 minutes from Midtown Manhattan, you can hop aboard the Metro-North Railroad from Grand Central Terminal — a popular tourist destination in its own right — where you can take advantage of a NYBG Getaway package that includes an All-Garden Pass and a round-trip train ticket from Grand Central to the Botanical Garden Station.

The All-Garden Pass package can be purchased at any Metro-North ticket window or kiosk in Grand Central Terminal. Tickets start at $20 for adults and $10 for children ages 2–12. Prices may vary during certain peak times and weekends. NYBG members and children under 2 are free. Advance timed tickets are strongly recommended and are available at nybg.org. You can also visit Metro-North Railroad for more details.

Families who do travel to the garden by train and have extra time in Manhattan should also take advantage of some of the other iconic holiday attractions in the city. No. 1 on the list is to stroll past the lavishly decorated store windows along Fifth Avenue and ice skating at Rockefeller Center and Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park.