Between Fifth Avenue shutting down to vehicular traffic on select Sundays in December and 150 Fraser and Noble firs glittering through the night from 47th to 61st Streets, NYC’s Fifth Avenue is an ever iconic holiday gem.
But one thing that has been a seasonal fixture for 40 years is the avenue’s famous massive snowflake, which has been shimmering throughout the holiday season since 1984, and this year it received a major upgrade.
Perched 50 feet above Fifth Avenue, the 30-foot-wide snowflake is now shining brighter this holiday season with the addition of more than 600 double-sided miniature LEDs, tripling the amount of lights on the side branches, according to The New York Times.
In addition, the Times writes that the snowflake’s 16,500 crystal light fixtures were cleaned and its steel-and-chrome core was polished, with projection LEDs replacing the halogen lights around it.
According to George Stonbely, the advertising entrepreneur who oversees the snowflake, the snowflake “needed to be refreshed,” reports the Times, with Stonbely adding “it’s still the same beautiful shape and structure that it was when it was designed in the early 2000s.”
6SqFt writes that now that the snowflake has newly configured LED lights, it’s now capable of dazzling New Yorkers and tourists alike with colorful light shows at the beginning of every hour, each lasting a couple of minutes.
Marie Boster, President of the Fifth Avenue Association, stated “We look to the snowflake’s brightness, uniqueness, and splendor – just like the iconic avenue – to let us know the holiday season is here,” according to 6SqFt.
NYC’s iconic snowflake can be seen above Fifth Avenue and 57th Street suspended by cables from four buildings–the Aman Hotel, Bergdorf Goodman, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co.
And this year it can be enjoyed even easier than ever with the expansion of Fifth Avenue’s holiday Open Streets “Gift of Fifth.” This year it’s breaking the record set last year for NYC’s largest-ever holiday season-specific open street, stretching from 48th Street to 59th Street.