Metro North Continues "This Gift" to Riders Through End of 2021

Metro North is continuing to give a gift to all of its riders through the end of 2021. Ah, so thoughtful and you didn't even know that they were going to get you something.

"The gift" as it is, is off-peak fare pricing for all trains, all days, all times, now through the end of the year. So, here is the question for you now, what are you going to do in New York City to take advantage of the off-peak pricing. A reminder that you will need to wear a mask while riding the train or any version of public transportation.

Because we love a 'good deal' just as much as the next person, we have a few suggestions of things that are happening, between now and New Years Eve, in New York City that you can possibly take the train to.

Santa Con. The big parade of Santas, which essentially is a large bar crawl. You haven't lived until you find yourself accidently in the middle of a few hundred people dressed up as Santa Claus.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and the ice rink. The ice rink is open and the tree has been cut. The tree will be loaded into position on November 14, and then the scaffolding, and the decorating will take place, then the anticipation up until the lighting of the tree on December 1.
The Christmas Market at Grand Central Station. There are stalls filled with great artisanal gifts.
The Christmas Market at Bryant Park, also known as the Holiday Shops. They open every day at 11 am, and the Bryant Park ice skating rink is also open for the season.
Macy's Thanksgiving or Christmas parade, it returns this year.
New Years Eve in Times Square.

Here are just a few things you can do in New York City from now to the end of the year.

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Upstate New York is the home to many fantastic food favorites. Mention sponge candy to somebody 100 miles outside Buffalo and you are probably going to get a blank stare. Mention a Michigan hot dog to anybody not from around Plattsburgh. Same stare. So here is a list of 13 regional food icons that you cannot buy outside of the empire State.

I will add this asterisk. You certainly can buy some of these items online, like the Saratoga Peppermint Pigs. Perhaps the Stix and Sauce item is known by another name somewhere in the country. Salt potatoes may have gravitated elsewhere but if so nobody knows where they started. And Grandma Brown. Well, you can buy that sweet lady's baked beans on eBay. But for the most part you would have to walk into a store or restaurant in Upstate New York to enjoy these "regional" fan favorite foods.

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