PrintChecking off everyone on your holiday shopping list might be a little easier at any of the city’s holiday markets.
Chelsea Market on 9th Avenue between 15th and 16th streets is especially good for the foodies on your list. Several specialty shops line this indoor shopping space, from the Chelsea Wine Vault, The Nut Box, Jacques Torres Chocolates and Eleni’s Cookies to the Bowery Kitchen Supply and Buon Italia, a grocery for imported Italian food supplies. Outside of the edible, Posman Books offers cookbooks as well as a New York-themed selection. Titles like Ric Burns’s “New York: An Illustrated History” or Sam Roberts’s “Only in New York: An Exploration of the World’s Most Fascinating, Frustrating, and Irrepressible City” are the perfect way to share your college experience with friends and family beyond the tri-state area—and much classier than an “I Heart New York” t-shirt. If you would rather give a shirt, check out the sample sale floor just inside the front entrance, which has recently hosted labels like Original Penguin and Free People.
For more wearable options, the artisan boutiques at the Holiday Shops at Bryant Park between 5th and 6th avenues and 40th and 42nd streets offer everything from faux-ethnic jewelry to pet accessories. The eco-conscious can enjoy green-certified wares from Karma Krafting, Kizmet Yogawear, Onurth Organic Skincare, and Recycled Planet Store. Bohemian necklaces at Exotic Handmade Jewelry and Little Village Crafts or wallets made from old subway maps at Dynomighty Design are generically suitable gifts, as are glass holiday ornaments—menorahs as well as Santas—from It’s Always Christmas in New York.
For a younger sibling or cousin, The Games Place has a variety that extends beyond the tired classic board games. If you insist on blinging out Fido for the holiday season, Annie’s Dog Bakery & Boutique has rhinestone collars that will glamify any pet. For a truly unique and unexpected gift, the eco-friendly Mr. Ellie Pooh has art and paper products made primarily out of elephant dung. As any salesperson here will tell you, the papyrus-like cards and journals are pretty and also draw attention to the human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka.
The red and white striped tents of the Holiday Market at Union Square on Broadway at 14th Street or the Columbus Circle Holiday Market on Central Park South at Central Park West offer a similar selection of holiday ornaments and foodstuffs and winter accessories—and, like the other markets, they generally accept credit cards. When faced with the mobs of frenzied holiday shoppers at Bloomingdales, these little shopping villages can be a less stressful alternative. Bryant Park even has a free ice skating rink. So grab a cup of hot chocolate and a pair of skates; you deserve to relax after having purchased the entirety of your shopping list.