10 things New Yorkers secretly love about the holidays

By Alana Mayman & Virginia K. Smith | December 22, 2015 - 2:15PM

Updated on 12/22/15-- this post ran in its original form on December 3, 2014.

1. Once everyone clears out to visit family, the city's your (blissfully empty) personal playground—and you're guaranteed a seat on the subway (and more street parking!).

2. Department store holiday windows make your daily lunch trek in Midtown feel a whole lot more festive.

3. There's literally always a sale on Rockettes tickets (seriously, Groupon's lousy with them).

4.  Not to brag, but we have the world's biggest, best Christmas tree.

5. The one good thing about having a drug store on every corner: the day after Christmas, when every single one of them puts all their holiday candy on sale.

6.  The cold keeps the smell of urine at bay.

7.  Haters gonna hate, and if it's your preferred mode of holiday "cheer," ba-humbugging is socially acceptable, even expected, during this time.

8.  Two words: mulled wine.

9.  You can use visiting family members as an excuse to indulge in holiday cheesiness. ("I stood in line at Macy's to see Santa for my niece!")

10. Starry-eyed, visiting out-of-towners let you see the city with a whole new set of (non-jaded) eyes.

New Year's resolutions for NYers

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.