Westfield / Chance Yeh
By Colin Mixson
It’s the holiday hub.
Westfield World Trade has turned the Oculus transit hub into a winter wonderland for this year’s holiday season, which will feature games, performances, art exhibits, elaborate decorations, and a whole Santa’s village worth of pop up shops.
The ground floor of the transit hub’s iconic atrium has been converted into a magical forest centered around a stylized Christmas tree and a 20-foot-tall snowman.
The enchanted shopping glade will feature a festive holiday market stuffed with vendors including Lovepop, The Giving Keys, Toytoise, United Chocolate Works, Pamela, Barsky, Pipcorn, and many more.
And to draw in shoppers, Westfield is producing a holiday concert series, along with other fun attractions including live music, holiday story telling, screenings of classic Christmas flicks, and a GIF photo booth where patrons can create animated electronic postcards featuring different New York City backdrops.
The shopping center also unveiled a unique menorah wrought from steel gathered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Westfield is inviting patrons to design their own holiday centerpieces at an arts and craft station, where they can build snow globes and other festive ornaments.
And if you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of one of several celebrity guests Westfield has invited to hobnob with locals from now until Christmas.
