Ready, Set, Shop: Holiday Markets Spring Up All Over

At no time more than the holidays does New York seem like both a big city and a small town. The department-store windows along Fifth Avenue beckon—but so do any manner of little holiday markets that spring up around the city.
Down on Union Square, for instance, you can find the Union Square Market, offering more than 100 small shops selling jewelry, crafts, food and decorations. The emphasis is on fair-trade, organic, recycled and sustainable goods; it’s open every day through December 24th at Union Square Park, Broadway and 14th Street.
Moving uptown, check out the Grand Central Holiday Fair in Grand Central Station. An unlikely seeming place, yes, but it houses an impressive array of vendors, offering really great crafts and gifts. It’s also open every day through December 24 in Vanderbilt Hall, and--bonus! It’s inside.
While you’re at Grand Central (unless you're off to the 8:01 to Greenwich) stop by the Holiday Laser Light Show, on display every half hour from 11am to 9pm in the Main Concourse. Plus—All Aboard! The Model Train Show is also in full gear, offered by the Transit Museum, and complete with a train layout that includes models of subway cars and a Metro North Train. The layout runs from Grand Central Station to the North Pole, with a dizzying array of stops, from gas stations (?) to Santa’s Workshop.