Tag Archives: Rockefeller Center

Face facts

I saw Snuffles twin at Rockefeller Center today.

Well, perhaps ancestor is the better word.

 

 

 

 

 

That’s Snuffles on the left — on the right, the brand spanking new version from Gund. I saw a little girl carrying him in a shopping bag near the ice rink. She had ‘adopted’ him from the Central Park Zoo.

What a difference two decades can make.

The newer version is obviously fluffier and puffier and whiter, his ears a bit perkier, his eyes shiny and direct.  But his mouth is stitched down flat, whereas my Snuffles smile is a moveable thread…so he can smile, frown, smirk, pout — whatever he’s feeling that day.

I mean, look at that face — so expressive.

But I’m sure after ten years or so, that new Gund bear will start showing some personality, too.

My kind of tree

New York City.  It’s one of the greenest cities in America.

So…why isn’t our Christmas tree?

Look at Sydney.

For three years running, Australia’s largest city has displayed a recycled holiday tree in The Rocks shopping district.  Their “Tree-Cycle” is constructed out of 100 bicycles that were destined for the recycling center. Instead, the bike frames were painted green and the tires multi-color hues to mimic lights.  Then they were hinged together into a 23-foot tall tree.

It took some eight weeks to build, but I think you’ll agree — the final product is magnificent.  (Last year, Sydney’s recycled tree was made of  bottles; in 2008, it was chairs.)

Go Sydney.

Cities stateside are also beating NYC to the green tree punch.  Santa Monica and Emeryville, California both have ‘shopping cart trees’ designed by artist Anthony Schmitt.  And Stratford, Connecticut is working on a tree constructed of old oil tanks and industrial products.

The Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center is seen by thousands of people from all around the world each year.  Think of the green message it could send — both at home and abroad — that would be heard long after the tree comes down and the ice skaters have gone home.

Rockefeller Center, whadda ya say?

New York City, are you in?