This is St. Mary the Virgin. It’s located on 46th Street in Times Square. It’s always been a bit discombobulating for me to stumble across a church in an unlikely place like Times Square. Neighborhoods in Manhattan are routinely torn apart and reinvented, but you don’t mess with church property, so you occasionally get these islands of Olde World New York amongst the skyscrapers.

St. Mary’s was founded in 1868 when the neighborhood was still called Longacre Square. The neighborhood changed its name to Times Square when the New York Times moved it’s offices uptown to its present location.

I was walking by one evening and was surprised to see a well-attended mass being celebrated. It could have been a holy day of obligation but that’s a world I left behind long ago, so I wasn’t sure.

I saw a flash of color and light that looked oddly out of place. Initially, I thought it was inside the church but it turned out to be a reflection the doors of this 150-year old church.

Upon closer examination, I could see that it was a reflection of the business located directly across the street on the south side of 46th.

Is having an authentic Irish bar across the street from a Catholic church unusual? Not in New York City. In fact, it seems oddly appropriate.

I made my annual pilgrimage to the Morgan Library to view my two favorite pieces of holiday ephemera; the original handwritten manuscript for A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and a first edition that includes the hand-colored plates. They display a different page from the manuscript each year. Interestingly, the original manuscript makes no mention of whether or not Tiny Tim lives. That line was added at the printers.

Much to my complete annoyance, the first edition was NOT on display this year. I asked the docent what the dillio was and she had no answers for me. But the manuscript is pretty cool. He wrote that story in a six week burst of creativity and panic. He was near bankrupt and needed the money for Christmas and to maintain his lavish lifestyle. It was a commercial venture.

Here’s my favorite plate from the first edition. It’s Mr. Fezziwig’s ball. I hope those idiots have the good sense to put it back on display next year.

If you click here, you can see high resolution scans of the manuscript. The handwriting is barely legible. (Seems to only work with Internet Explorer. Move your cursor over the post-it note and the written text is interpreted for you.)

I also visited Morgan’s Gutenberg bible. It’s the first book ever printed on movable type. Prior to that, it was all quills, ink wells and parchment. There aren’t many of Gutenberg bibles left (perhaps 50) and the Morgan Library has three! Over the centuries, many of the copies were disassembled and the pages (leaves) were sold. After the Morgan Library, I walked up 5th Avenue to the New York Public Library on 42nd and guess what!? THEY had a Gutenberg bible on display as well! That means that FOUR Gutenberg bibles are within six blocks of one another. Is this a great town or what?!

At the Morgan, there was also an exhibit of Jane Austin first editions, manuscripts and letters. I tried to take it in but I was never interested in her books so the exhibit fell flat for me.

I visited the holiday window displays at Lord & Taylor. Lord & Taylor was the first retail store to create special holiday window displays that didn’t include merchandise. In these cynical days, it amazes me that they still do it.

The flagship store on 5th Avenue and 39th Street opened in 1914 and has been designated a New York City landmark. It’s a beautiful building but it’s one of those stores, like Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany & Co., that I stay the hell out of because of the intimidation factor.

Here are a few shots of the 2009 displays. Click on one or two of them. They’re pretty impressive. There’s a lot of old-world slow-moving animatronics. The work is miniature and finely detailed and I believe it has true artistic merit, but I think a lot of kids in this day and age would find it kind of dull. It’s a shame.

I was arguing with myself over whether or not I should do any holiday posts this year. I got all wrapped up in trying to gauge whether or not anyone is interested in reading this stuff but ultimately I decided to do what I’ve always done—write whatever the hell I like and hope it amuses.

Here’s the beautiful Bryan Park skating rink, all up and running. The building in the background is the back of the big New York Public Library on Madison and 42nd. The front of the building is guarded by two stone lions, Patience and Fortitude. Unfortunately, the statues are so old and frail that they can no longer hang big wreaths around their necks.

If you look in the upper left, you’ll see the neon-lit point of the Chrysler Building. The structure on the left is a 2-story restaurant/bar. You can get drinks and a not-too-cheap meal while watching skaters either glide gracefully or fall flat on their asses. It’s dinner and a show.

Here’s the rink from another angle with the Empire State Building bathed in red. Come to Manhattan and you, too, can ice skate in the shadow of two of the most important architectural landmarks in the city.

Behind these hallowed doors below the wreath you won’t find a bigger collection of thieves, vipers and swindlers. I’ve spent most of my career working for these clowns and I feel very different about them today than I did 18 months ago. 18 months ago I wouldn’t have referred to them as clowns. Santa will, inexplicably, be very good to them this year.