The threat of death must be one of the oldest methods on the planet used to draw a crowd. Apparently, they don’t think that being able to ice skate in the middle of Midtown Manhattan in Bryant Park is enough to attract the tourists. They hired a pretty girl to entwine herself in a white scarf, suspend herself from a balloon and perform an aerial ballet.

It’s a crazy stunt! She performed a Pas de Deux (the balloon was her partner). It was all very lovely, but she was working without a net and really could have slipped out of her wrap, fallen and cracked her head wide open in front of a gaggle of out-of-towners.

At nightfall, they light the tree. That structure you see in the background is a temporary restaurant that will be disassembled in January when the rink comes down. There’s a bar on the ground floor or you can walk upstairs and have dinner while looking down on the skaters as they gracefully float by and clumsily fall on their asses. I don’t want to get all Oprah on you but I wish you could see everyone’s face. Everybody is so happy.