LORAN SMITH: Christmastime is special at the Big Apple

New York always dresses up for Christmas. No matter the weather, the mood is buoyant and the setting festive — people scurrying about, the atmosphere nippy and decorations everywhere, all in good taste. No bright colors, just the tasteful white twinkling lights. Makes you feel you have been plopped into the heavens along with the stars.

Walking about, you hear the bleating of car horns, the cacophonous roar of the traffic, the jackhammer symphony (New York is always under repair or replacement) and the shrill whistle of the hotel doormen beckoning taxi’s your way. The sights and sounds of New York are stimulating for the holidays.

You can find something new and different in Manhattan if you are up to it, but encores are too hard to let go: The neighborhood restaurants, Broadway, Times Square and Rockefeller Center. The Rockettes still attract crowds, the giant Christmas tree still turns heads, the ice rink continues to attract ice skaters and music for the ages. Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas,” Mel Torme with his rendition of “Chestnuts Roasting on an open Fire” and Frank Sinatra with “New York, New York,” one of the classic songs of our times.

New York is enlivening any time of the year but it resonates with heart and soul at Christmas. Salvation Army bells ring in Manhattan. Cab drivers still flourish even with Uber’s convenient appeal. People moving about still don’t make eye contact when you meet them on the street.

There is still a line forming at Radio City Music Hall every day as the grade school children are let out bussed over to Manhattan to experience the Christmas shows. Although it has been a while since we have been to see the Rockettes, I often think about taking in the show again. The story lines, the high stepping and the Christmas decorations and atmosphere are worthy of encores.

The uptick of the economy makes Manhattan an exciting place, although in depressed times the mood did not seem too flat. Those who frequent Paris, London, Rome and other European capitals and those of the Far East, find New York to be the most alluring city of them all.

It is so easy to find your way around the City. Avenues running north and south and streets east and west. It was uncomplicated before GPS systems came to be.

I like being a tourist, although has it has not been connected to an agenda of late, but to take a tour around Manhattan Island by boat offers stunning views and a difference perspective of the city. The sounds of the subway still fascinate. It is fun to recall the times the subway was the only way to travel for those who live by modest means.

The subway taking one out to the ball games, like to Yankee Stadium, which the passing of time took away. The House that Ruth Built where stories abound—the highlights and the ones mostly forgotten. Like Jim Pyburn, the Auburn infielder, who later coached on Vince Dooley’s first staff. Pyburn was a bonus baby in the fifties and was required to play on the major league team. That was not a good plan as it turned out, but Jim did hit a home run while playing for Baltimore in old Yankee stadium.

Spud Chandler of Carnesville, one-time Georgia quarterback, pitched in the old Yankee Stadium and was friends with Clara Ruth, from Jefferson, Ga., the second wife of Babe Ruth.

It is not so cold in New York this year. You can walk about without a top coat. Christmas in Manhattan without topcoat, gloves and stocking cap — that is a first. There is a little nip in the air, just to remind you that you should never been overconfident about the weather here. With New York, there is always a blizzard just around the corner.

The weather, unless rain beats you in the face, never diminishes the experience of walking the Brooklyn Bridge. It is an experience many pass on, but such an expansive emotional and visual pleasure. Doesn’t take long, but the memories linger. It is the redeeming encore of all redeeming encores.