It Takes a Winter Village at Bryant Park in NYC
Just a couple weeks remain until the Winter Village at Bryant Park closes down on March 1, 2026. It is said that “March comes in like a lion,” but when I visited this impressive winter pop-up, February could have been compared to a polar bear or some sub-zero iteration of the Abominable Snowman. The air was a bitter eleven degrees, the cold chipped its way through the multiple layers of clothing, and the fountain in Bryant Park was encased in its coffin of ice.
The fountain at Bryant Park, winter 2026.
Two experiences offered by the Winter Village came quickly to the rescue – food and ice skating. Though there were many food offerings, such as The Lodge, Palenque, and Doughnuttery, I selected Koukli “Saucy Greek.” The epitome of comfort food on a frigid winter day, Koukli served up a scrumptious pita sandwich and Greek fries, made with extra virgin olive oil, feta cheese and oregano. For dessert, one can indulge in a melomakarona, a traditional Greek cookie made with lemon zest, cinnamon, cloves, brandy, and honey. The star of the show was their Baklava Hot Chocolate, one of those classic NYC treats that makes you want to go home and try to replicate it.
Make it stand out
Baklava Hot Chocolate at Koukli
Make it stand out
Pita sandwich at Koukli
Nothing gets the blood flowing faster than a hundred revolutions around a skating rink, depending on one’s skating acumen. Personally, I was able to count my orbits around the rink on the fingers of my heavily gloved hand. Others, however, such as my daughter, Emma, who plays hockey on an amateur adult team in the Long Island Hockey League, established bragging rights by adding style and grace to the icy circuit. “The rink was well-maintained and the process well-managed. There were limits to the number of skaters, and this improves safety for skaters of all skill levels,” said Emma, who has skated only three years, but is already an aficionado.
The fact that this was also family time helped stave off the cold. Travels as a husband and father, even if it is within the city where one lives, creates warmth through the act of sharing common experiences. The same warmth that Koukli served up through the pride of ethnic cuisine along with the sheer taste sensation can also be felt through the camaraderie on the ice rink. We are concerned when another skater falls, and if we are not the first to come to his or her rescue, we feel comfort knowing that someone else did.
Visit Bryant Park Winter Village before it closes up for the season. Luckily, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. However, when I could no longer feel my extremities and had to negotiate the mountains of impacted ice that gripped New York City this winter, I was not really impressed with his talent for prophesy.