Thanksgiving Kicks Off the Holiday Season in New York City

10/15/07

Thanksgiving Kicks off the Holiday Season in NYC


City Businesses Prepare to Welcome Visitors and Couples with Special Offers and Promotions






New York, NY (October 15, 2007) Thanksgiving in New York City offers visitors an exciting array of events and activities as well as special hotel packages and restaurant discounts.


"New York City is an ideal place to celebrate Thanksgiving," said George Fertitta, CEO of NYC & Company, the City's official marketing and tourism organization. "Seasonal savings and special packages at our hotels and restaurants add to the excitement of the New York City holiday experience."


Drawing millions of spectators each year, the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a national event with a distinctly New York City energy. The event kicks off at 9am at 77th Street and Central Park West, where giant balloons and colorful floats alongside bands, dancers and clowns begin making their way downtown, through Columbus Circle, and eventually to Herald Square where the parade concludes at noon.


For those wanting to get a head start on the festivities, the legendary Macy's balloons are inflated adjacent to the American Museum of Natural History beginning at 3pm the day before the parade.


In addition to commemorating Thanksgiving, the parade also marks the start of the holiday season, and many of the City's celebrated hotels and restaurants are offering special deals to ensure that their guests enjoy the kind of holiday splendor that only New York can offer.


Hotel PackagesHotels throughout the City are offering special hotel packages to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.The Alex Hotel is offering a holiday package starting at $399 per night plus tax for deluxe accommodations, which includes breakfast for two people and a 3pm late checkout, valid from November 18�22.Hotel Thirty Thirty is offering a Thanksgiving special that offers a third night free after paying for two nights during the period of November 18�23.The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is offering the I Love A Parade package. Available from November 19�25, the package, starting at $809 per night, includes: exclusive access to the hotel's 6,000-square-foot ballroom with continental buffet breakfast and parade views on Thanksgiving day, complimentary upgrade to a Hudson River view room and a welcome amenity of caramel apples and cider.Families can enjoy Thanksgiving on the Upper East Side with the Thanksgiving package being offered by the Marmara Manhattan. Priced at $1,799 for a family of four, the program starts on November 21 with checkout at noon on November 25. Package includes four nights' accommodation in a one-bedroom suite; a gift basket from Eli's Vinegar Factory, a nearby outpost of Zabar's; gourmet Thanksgiving dinner for four catered by Eli's Vinegar Factory; four complimentary tickets to the American Museum of Natural History; and four $10 MetroCards for easy access to the City's attractions. The hotel is located at 301 East 94th Street.The New York Marriott Marquis is offering a three-night-minimum Thanksgiving Day Parade package, with arrival on November 20. Package includes a deluxe room, full-buffet breakfast on Thanksgiving Day morning in a private banquet room at the hotel, and prime viewing of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as it passes through Times Square from, from a special viewing area of the Minskoff Theatre. A limited number of packages are available at the rate of $949 per night plus tax. To reserve, book on marriott.com and enter promotional code TD1. To reserve by phone, call 1-800-228-9290 and ask for Rate Code TGJA.The Ritz-Carlton Hotels of New York have created the ultimate Thanksgiving experience by reserving the perfect spot for the entire family to experience the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade followed by a Thanksgiving feast without the fuss upon returning to the hotel. Enjoy a private second floor indoor skybox viewing (floor to ceiling windows) of the parade on Columbus Circle, which includes elaborate gourmet buffet breakfast for two. The Thanksgiving Parade Fantasy Package is a three-night package available November 21�24. It is priced starting from $3,375 at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park and $4,550 at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.The Carlton on Madison Avenue is offering a superior hotel package for $454 on Thanksgiving evening, November 22, including accommodations for one night and a traditional three-course dinner for two in The Caf� at Country. Package includes cider to go on Thanksgiving morning.RestaurantsRestaurants throughout the City are offering special Thanksgiving menus featuring fall cuisine.Hotels offering special Thanksgiving meals include InterContinental The Barclay New York, which is offering A Right Royal Thanksgiving brunch including a proper English style roast beef with Yorkshire puddings, a British cheese board, generous selection of steamed puddings, trifle alongside the traditional apple pie and a wine buffet offering eight different still wines and two sparking wines. Cost is $75 per person for adults, children ages 6 to 12 are $15 and children ages five and under are free.H�tel Plaza Ath�n�e is offering a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in one of the City's most romantic restaurants, Arabelle, for $110 per person. The menu features butternut squash soup, rosemary basted Tom turkey, Hudson Valley apple crisp and more.Zo� Soho and Zo� Townhouse are both offering a special three-course holiday menu with a choice of six appetizers, six entrees and six desserts for $65 per person. There is a special three course kid-friendly holiday menu for $29 per child under 12 years old. Reservations are being accepted at both restaurants from 1�9pm.Additional restaurants with Thanksgiving menus include: Beacon Restaurant & Bar, Good Restaurant, Hilton New York's New York Marketplace Restaurant, Picholine, Porter House New York and Murals on 54.Walking ToursAnd, even companies offering walking tours of New York City are offering special tours.Big Onion Tours, for instance, is offering a special annual Post-Thanksgiving Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour featuring the historic and gastronomic delights of the Jewish East Side, Chinatown and Little Italy. Learn about this fascinating "land of the immigrants" while munching on everything from plantains to pickles to dim sum and mozzarella. The tour starts at 1pm. Cost is $20 for adults, $17 for seniors and $15 for students and includes food stops. Reservations are requested.On November 23 at 1pm, visitors can take a walking tour of Central Park: "The Big Back Yard of the City" with Joyce Gold History Tours and learn more about the history of the first great park in the United States.The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy will give a Thanksgiving walking tour on November 18 at 11:15am. The tour, called The Jewish Community of Colonial New York City, will include a visit to New York's first Jewish cemetery (1683) at Chatham Square and sites of Jewish settlement in Lower Manhattan including the early Spanish/Portugese rented synagogues, Mill Street Synagogue, Colonial Revival Houses, Stone Street�home of Aser Levi (Jewish rights activist and first kosher butcher in New York City).Other ActivitivesNovember 21, from 9pm�4am, the 92nd Street Y will present the Annual Thanksgiving Israeli Folk-Dance Marathon. The cost is $20 at the door.The Institute of Culinary Education will present several courses geared toward the holiday season. On November 5, the school will offer Making the Holidays Easy, from 6�11pm for $100.



About NYC & CompanyNYC & Company is the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York, dedicated to maximizing travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, building economic prosperity and spreading the positive image of New York City worldwide.




Contacts
Kimberly Spell
NYC & Company
tel 212 484 1270
kspell@nycgo.comChris Heywood
NYC & Company
tel 212 484 5458
cheywood@nycgo.com