WPBN: Put on your yarmulke, for Hanukkah is coming to celebrate! Hanukkah and Christmas have both fallen on the same day for the first time since 2005. This is a rare occurrence that has only occurred five times since the year 1900, including this year.
Hanukkah will begin at sundown on Wednesday, December 25, 2025, and will continue until nightfall on Thursday, January 2, 2025 until it concludes.
In spite of the fact that it would appear like everything is crammed with Christmas during this time of year, there are a great deal of events and activities taking place in New York City to celebrate Hanukkah.
In the spirit of the Festival of Lights, the following are some of the illuminated events that are now taking place; there is something for people of all ages to enjoy.
Maccabee Bar
- 24 Cortlandt Alley; Dec. 23-Jan. 4
For its third year, the Hanukkah-themed pop-up bar, The Maccabee Bar, is coming back to New York. Customers can get lit at the pop-up at Saint Tuesday in Tribeca from Monday, December 23, until Tuesday, January 4, 2025.
TimeOut was informed by designer Naomi Levy that the bar will have Hanukkah-themed décor, traditional holiday fare, and Hanukkah-specific cocktails, such as the new Kosher Nostra, which is “a play on a Negroni using the flavors of tzimmes.”
Favorite beverages from the past of Maccabee Bar will also be back, such as the Ocho Kandelikas, which combines an olive oil gin with honey, apricot, almond, and lemon, and the Latke Sour, which combines apple brandy, lemon, and Havana & Hyde bitters with a “touch of potato.”
The Biggest Menorah Lighting during Hanukkah
- 59th Street and 5th Avenue / Grand Army Park at Flatbush Avenue
You may see the lighting of the largest Hanukkah menorahs in the world during the festival of lights in Midtown or Brooklyn, according to Guinness World Records.
Every Hanukkah night at sundown, its 32-foot-tall, 4,000-pound steel menorahs are lit, competing with those of Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza and Midtown’s Grand Army Plaza.
The largest menorah in Manhattan will be situated close to Central Park, outside the Plaza Hotel on 59th Street. According to Pix11 News, on Wednesday, December 25, ConEd will utilize a crane to raise the Rabbi so that he can light the Shamash Candle (middle candle).
The first night of Hanukkah in Brooklyn will feature a kickoff event featuring rapper Nissim Black at 4 p.m., followed by the lighting of the menorah.
Chanukah Menorah Lighting & Celebration at Seaport
- 89 South St.; Dec. 29 at 3 p.m.
The Chabad Jewish Center of FiDi will hold Seaport’s yearly Chanukah Menorah Lighting on Sunday, December 29, from 3 to 5 p.m.
There will be a six-foot-tall chocolate Menorah, arts and crafts, live music, hot cocoa, latkes, and face painting at the family-friendly event at Heineken Riverdeck at Pier 17.
Despite the one-night celebration, the menorah will remain on display until January 3, 2025.
MatzoBall 2024
- 54 W. 21st St.; Dec. 24 at 10 p.m.
For Jews who have nothing better to do on Christmas Eve, going to the annual MatzoBall event is a rite of passage.
This year, at Slate NY, the event is commemorating its 38th year of uniting Jewish singles for a night of mingling, laughter, and “romantic possibilities.”
With the addition of its digital campaign, the Jewzz app, “the nation’s No. 1 Jewish Singles Holiday Party” is incorporating technology into its roster this year. The makers of MatzoBall have developed a free Jewish dating app called Jewzz that allows verified Jewish singles to engage in real-time video speed dating.
For those over 21, MatzoBall is open from 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve to 4 a.m. on Christmas Day. Admission tickets are $55, or $75 for a “fast pass.” Tables cost between $235 and $407.
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Dreidel Drop: A Jewish Hanukkah Party on the Eve of the Year
- 12 Vandam St.; Dec. 31 at 9 p.m.
The final night of Hanukkah does not always coincide with the final night of the year. Danielle Brody of Danielle in Doodles will throw a party to celebrate the start of the new year and the historic holiday crossover.
Latkes and sufagniyot (jelly doughnuts), photo ops, personalized Hanukkah beverages, gelt, and DJ Zap music will all be featured at the event.
For $72 for general admission early bird or $126 for VIP, you may watch the ball—and dreidels—drop at this event.
Enjoy the holiday of Hanukkah in Hudson Yards
- 11th Avenue and Hudson Boulevard; Dec. 25-Jan. 2
In order to get the holiday season off to a good start, on December 25 there will be a menorah lighting event held in Hudson Yards Public Square and Gardens in collaboration with the local Chabad of Midtown.
Beginning on the first night of Hanukkah and continuing until the second, there will be a live lighting of the menorah to commemorate the Festival of Lights.
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The Jewish Experience in Manhattan Gatsby’s New Year’s Party and Hanukkah
- 131 W. 86th St., 10th Floor; Jan. 1 at 8 p.m.
Ring in the new year and end Hanukkah in true Gatsby fashion! People will be dressed to impress in their finest Roaring Twenties attire for Manhattan Jewish Experience’s Gatsby-themed Hanukkah and New Year’s celebration.
Latkes and doughnuts, a live DJ, an open bar, and menorah lighting are all planned for the celebration. When you buy your tickets in advance, they only cost $17.85, but they cost $23.18 at the door.
Yo La Tengo’s Eight Nights of Hanukkah
- 6 Delancey St.; Dec. 25 to Jan. 1
Yo La Tengo, an indie rock band that has performed at Bowery Ballroom for Hanukkah almost every year since 2001, is returning. Every Hanukkah night from December 25 to January 1, 2025, Yo La Tengo will perform, and each night will be unique.
Every night features a fresh surprise music and comedy opener, a special guest who will join the band for the set, and the band doesn’t play the same songs over the course of the run.
Winter Concert at the Museum of Eldridge: Jazzukkah
- 12 Eldridge St.; Dec. 25 at 2 p.m.
On Manhattan’s historic Lower East Side, celebrate Hanukkah with The Jazzukkah Project at the Museum at Eldridge Street.Classic Hanukkah songs like “Ma’oz Tzur” and “I Have a Little Dreidel” are transformed into new jazz melodies by Jazzukkah.
Some of their original compositions, including “Hanukkah Blues,” are even available.
