Nostalgia's a Hell of a Drug
Melons, monuments, and holiday merriment in NYC
Happy post-Thanksgiving week! For all of you getting back to work this week, I wish you the best. For anyone else who is living that unemployed life along with me, are you enjoying all of the daytime activities? I’ve seen two 1pm movies this week (A Real Pain and Heretic) and I absolutely love having the theater mostly to myself. Pro Tip for Alamo patrons: if you bring your own tea bag, they’ll give you a mug of hot water for free! How’s that for a low budget tip? Holiday markets are also so much less crowded on weekdays and you deserve to not wait in line for an overpriced hot chocolate (I enjoyed the chest-nog at Bryant Park if you’re looking to drop $9 on a hot bevvy). Speaking of hot chocolate - last year I took Lorenzo on a hot chocolate crawl and tried some of the most hyped cups of the season. Are there any new hot chocolates I should have him try this year? Would you like to have a hot chocolate date with me? Hit me up in the comments!
Most of NYC’s Christmas trees were lit earlier this week, but in this issue I’m writing about the Christmas tree lighting that started it all and is marked by a monument I only recently discovered. If you’re going on a Christmas crawl sometime this month, chances are you’ll end up walking uptown and through Central Park and one of my favorite burgers is located on the UES. Read on, bitches!
Today, NYC is home to tons of public Christmas trees, though the Rockefeller tree tends to get all of the attention (the NYSE tree is the best tree IMO). While NYC is decked out in its holiday best this time of the year, but we didn’t always have Christmas trees on ever corner. And the Rockefeller tree wasn’t even our first big public Christmas tree! That honor actually goes to the Madison Square Park tree. Today’s tree is located at the north end of the park, but the original tree was lit at the south end and is marked by a monument that you might only notice if you look up:
This monument, the Star of Hope, marks the spot that NYC’s first Christmas tree was lit in 1912. Philanthropy was all the rage in the early 1900’s, so Emilie D. Lee Herreshoff partnered with the Parks commish to bring in a big ass tree! A 60 ft tree was donated by the Adirondack Club, an anonymous railroad worker covered the cost of transport, and it was decorated with lights from the Edison Company (electricity was still kinda new so this was a big deal). Emilie specifically wanted to display the tree in a public place, as most Christmas trees at that time were simply in the homes of those wealthy enough to afford them. The idea was to bring some holiday cheer to the less fortunate folks in the city. That Christmas tree was called the “Tree of Light” and an estimated 20,000 New Yorkers attended that first tree lighting ceremony.
“It was to speak the Christmas message to all who might see it, and to the lonely and sad who might have no other tree,” Emilie said in a later interview.
Apparently Emilie first got the idea for a public Christmas tree lighting from a dinner party she hosted. Artist Orlando Rouland told a story about a lonely Christmas he had spent one year in Germany. He decorated a tree in his room, but wanted to share his handiwork with other humans, so he went out into the streets and invited people to come inside and have a looksy at his tree. This was the early 1900s, so no one thought this was strange at all and apparently followed this man into his apartment to look at his tree. Joy was had by all, merriment ensued (I assume). When Emilie heard this story, she suggested they do the same thing in NYC, but instead of inviting poor people into her home (ewww) she would commission a huge tree to be set up in a public park. A trust fund was even set up to ensure that this could become an annual thing (I couldn’t find out if this trust is still around or not, though I suspect it’s dried up by now).
That first tree lighting was pardon the pun, pretty lit. The festivities started at 4:50pm and raged on until after midnight. The celebration featured bells chiming, trumpets trumpeting, “music from many throats and various choruses,” Christmas carols, more trumpets, brass bands, and a group sing-a-long of “My Country ‘tis of Thee.” Honestly though the funniest part to me is that the fucking Boy Scouts were brought in to act as “peace officers” during the whole thing. Tell me your event was low budget without telling me your event was low budget. The newspaper article announcing the event even admitted that the whole thing was thrown together pretty quickly and wrote that they couldn’t invite everyone they wanted to perform, so folks should feel free to just show up and sing some songs in their native languages. They especially noted that they wanted some Welsh folks to come perform for some reason, no confirmation on whether that happened or not.
I think it’s pretty safe to say that Christmas celebrations took off in NYC after this first tree lighting. The City Hall Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony followed shortly thereafter in 1913, a tree was put up in Prospect Park in 1920, the Washington Square Association began its tree lighting tradition in 1924 (also the first year of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade), and the first Rockefeller tree went up in 1931. A lot of these celebrations were happening during the Great Depression and I thought it was really interesting to read the below quote from someone. I’ll be honest, my immediate thought when I see big displays like these tree lightings is “couldn’t this money be better spent providing food or housing?” And while I still generally believe that, I do think it’s worth noting that every human deserves to experience all of humanity - food, housing, and art included.
A woman in the crowd at the Tree of Hope lighting was heard to remark, “This is a real Christmas for me. Those rich people who give so much money away on Christmas always get the idea that the poor need something to eat. They forget that we also like to look at nice things and hear lovely music.”
Today, the star stands alone at the south end of the park, a bit of a forgotten monument in a park chock full of larger and more prominent monuments. If you visit the Madison Square Park tree this season, be sure to make a stop to see the Star of Hope, too. It’s right near the Shake Shack, so you can brave the cold and eat a burger in the park!
JG Melon is by no means a hidden gem in NYC; it’s been around since 1972 and its neon sign glowing above 3rd ave is iconic. Originally established by Jack O'Neill (the J) and George Mourges (the G), it also repeatedly shows up on best burger lists and while it is certainly a good burger, it is by no means the best. So why am I even bothering to write about this place if I admit that it’s not great? Nostalgia, baby!
Nostalgia is a powerful thing and I suspect that that is what primarily drives my love for JG Melon. The place looks like it’s been around forever. The interior is dimly lit (but not too dimly lit, which is honestly so important), has a long wooden bar with just the right ratio of shine:grunge, and tons of tables absolutely crammed into the space topped with green and white checkered tablecloths that they change for every single customer (whoever is doing their laundry deserves all the money). And the most charming detail is the ubiquitous watermelon decor. Apparently when Jack and George bought the place, they found leftover watermelon decor from the previous business (Central Tavern) and just decided to run with it.
But my nostalgia for old-timey NY establishments isn’t the only sort of nostalgia at work here; let’s also talk about the burger. JG Melon has a pretty small menu; it’s literally written on the wall because the food items haven’t changed (but the prices sure have). I, like most JG Melon patrons, have only ever ordered the cheeseburger and cottage fries. The burger looks unremarkable and that’s because…it is. The bun is nice and soft, the cheese is a melty slice of processed American chemicals, and the patty is a nice little puck of meat. Pickles and red onion are provided on the side for a little DIY situation which I appreciate. I like the JG burger because it is a backyard burger. It tastes like the burger I grew up eating that my dad would grill in the backyard. My dad was no chef, but he made a good burger, and this is that. I’m not a girly blessed with a balcony (or grilling skills if we’re being honest), so this is the closest I’ve found to getting a true backyard burger in the city and that taste of nostalgia is what keeps me coming back.
Remember how I hated the fries at Red Hook Tavern? JG Melon does the same crinkly coin fry and they do it better! True, their fries also aren’t seasoned, but they have salt and pepper shakers right on the table so it’s very easy for me to dump an obnoxious amount of pepper on them and rectify that. The texture of JG’s cottage fries is the perfect crisp on the outside with a thin later of soft potato on the inside. They’re like the perfect cross between a french fry and a potato chip.
There’s definitely some things to keep in mind if you’re planning a visit to JG Melon. They don’t take reservations and post-pandemic I’ve always been quoted a 30 min wait, so be patient. They’re open til like 3am which is also not common post-pandemmy. They’re cash only, so be better than me and stop at an ATM beforehand. I’ve seen some write-ups complain about the service, but I’ve never experienced anything negative here at all. It’s wild to me that the hostess just writes everyone’s names down on a little scrap of paper and still manages to get folks seated. The waiters are always super quick to take orders and on my last visit the burgers arrived at the table in under 10 minutes.
So while JG Melon might not have the best burger in the city, it’s still a pretty damn good one. Is $22.50 a little steep for a burger and fries? Sure. But if you’re in the neighborhood and you want to feel like you’ve stepped back in time to an old school burger joint, JG will get the job done. Plus, the watermelon art is delightful.
Oh hey there, I’m in another gift guide this year! Excellent friend put together a roundup of cool finds from small businesses and asked me to contribute. I’m definitely not a person who buys a lot of “things” so anything I recommended is truly something I’d be happy to have taking up space in my home. You can find one of my picks - Estelle’s Atelier - at the Renegade Craft Fair this weekend! 💝
Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant, recently opened in Bushwick! I’ve heard great things about this place and can’t wait to try their food. They’re offering a free public dinner on Dec 7 in honor of Chef Mahmoud, a friend of the owner’s who was killed in Gaza.
In other bad news, Canal Street Market will be closing at the end of the month. CSM is just one of a long string of places announcing their closures at the end of the year. Pour one out for some real ones.
Head to Aftermath on Dec 8 for a BYOV (Bring Your Own Vinyl) party. They’ll be hosting a record swap and listening party, so if you’re in the market for some new records have a look!
Another day, another holiday market. Bin Bin Sake’s Holiday Market will be popping up in Greenpoint on Dec 8 and will offer free sake tastings, Japanese crafts, an onigiri popup, and more!
The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail at NYBG left a dark hole in me that I’m hoping the Tianyu Festival Lights will fill! This will run from Nov 29 to Jan 19 at Citi Field and it looks so fun. The space will have interactive light displays, a scavenger hunt, arcade games, and so much more.
I love love love when NYC is as much a character in a film as the actors are and Shiloh put together a 25 Days of Christmas watchlist of movies just like this! Go for the movies, and stay for Shiloh’s great NYC content.
In delightfully weird news, someone has been leaving tiny ducks around Chelsea.
Holiday cards + NYC polaroids are still available through the end of the year to all of my paid subscribers! 💌
1) Choose a photo from an existing adventure, or challenge me to find something new for you! Seriously, pick any location or any landmark and I’ll go there to snap a cool pic for you.
2) Send me your address via this form to receive a fun surprise in your mailbox 📝 📬
nostalgia is real! have you read downtown by peter hamil ? This reminds me so much of that how NYC is always changing and morphing on you and how those old haunts have such a strong hold on our hearts. Thanks for sharing!!
hot chocolate date obvs