My Multi-Colored, Multi-Cultural Christmas on 5th Avenue

Editor’s Notes

By Marivir R. Montebon

While New York continues to reign supreme with the grandeur of its holiday lights,

real friendships and community are ultimately the ones that gladden my heart.

New York City – The holiday season on 5th Avenue, Manhattan’s thoroughfare that divides the city into east and west, is overwhelmingly spectacular. The Rockefeller Christmas tree alone draws throngs of spectators every year to delight on this glittery and colossal Norway Spruce. Indeed, the tradition that was started by post-Depression era workers of the Rockefeller Plaza in 1933 had gone a long, lucrative way for the city.

There is also the showcase of profuse holiday lights and music on Saks 5th Avenue which are astounding enough to awe anyone from all ages. Themed this year as Once Upon a Time, the holiday show literally drowns one’s senses confirming that indeed we are standing on the world’s capital city.

But there is more to the holidays on 5th Avenue than the spectacle of lights. There is, very strangely in the midst of bustling chaos, a sense of community that has long prospered in the hearts of people here.

For years, non-commercial entities have created their own traditions for the holidays as well. Living here for 10 years now seemed like a breeze. How time flies and on 5th Avenue, I have somehow developed a sense of community.

On 45th Street, there is the Philippine Consulate General – New York which annually holds the traditional simbang gabi (night masses) where nostalgic Filipinos gather and celebrate the season just like they did way back home, only much colder. For this year, the Philippine Consulate launched “Paskong Pilipino” on December 5 with a Parol (Christmas lantern) Lighting Ceremony participated in by a capacity audience from the Filipino-American Community.

Consul General Theresa Dizon-De Vega welcomed guests to the parol lighting and invited them to take part in the nine-day Simbang Gabi sa Konsulado from December 5 to 13, 2017. “This is our way of bringing some of the traditions, sights, sounds, and flavors of the Philippine Christmas season to our kababayans overseas,” she said.

The simbang gabi is being carried each night by several organizations which manage the Holy Mass, program, and dinner feast, a cultural practice that Filipino communities are known of.

Nearby, on 43rd Street is the MA school that I am enrolled in, the Unification Theological Seminary. Here in this landmark edifice is where my interfaith community is. We are truly a diverse group of MA students, staff and teachers: Filipinos, Indians, Africans, Americans, and Israelis. To me, this community is epitome of ‘racially diverse’ New York.

Our recent Holiday party was a mix of African and Asian food. But our songs were mainly American, as naturally English had become our common language. I feel it is refreshing to personally talk to all people from various cultures with different religions too. In this shared space, we are able to appreciate and respect each other’s uniqueness, and that is totally cool.

I am glad that right in the heart of the city, I have found two diverse communities in the place that I call my new home. While New York continues to reign supreme with the grandeur of its holiday lights, real friendships and community are ultimately the ones that gladden my heart.  (Photos by Lumen Castaneda and Mylz Tolentino; with Press Release from the Philippine Consulate of New York)