Revellers gather in Times Square for the start of the 2022 SantaCon NYC on December 10, 2022, in New York City. – Participants in the annual event dress as Santa Claus or holiday outfits and go on a bar crawl through the city. Fees to join SantaCon are distributed to charitable causes.
New York City has some of the most recognizable holiday and Christmas displays of anywhere in the world — from the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, to the incredible lights displays at Dyker Heights, and even the massive SantaCon gathering over this past weekend.
But apparently, those are not enough to get New Yorkers to truly feel the spirit of the season, according to a recent report.
Money website FinanceBuzz analyzed 50 of the biggest cities across America and evaluated them based on almost two dozen metrics to help measure Christmas spirit. And New York City was determined to be the "Grinchiest" city in America.
The city was found to have the lowest rate of holiday decoration shops (0.6), Christmas tree lots (0.3), gift shops (9.9) and food banks (0.1) per 100,000 people, according to FinanceBuzz. Also, less than a quarter of all New Yorkers (23.3 percent) said they volunteered annually — the fourth lowest in the country.
Perhaps the hearts of New Yorkers may be two sizes too small.
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Los Angeles was rated as the second-Grinchiest city in the U.S., followed by San Antonio, Chicago and Memphis.
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At least the five boroughs fared better than other cities when it comes to giving. Miami residents were found to volunteer the least of any major city, while also donating to charity the least.
Meanwhile, another city not too far away apparently gets into the holiday spirit much better. Hartford, Connecticut, scored the highest for holiday cheer, at nearly 75 percent, FinanceBuzz said. The Connecticut capital has more than 1,920 holiday festivals and events per 100,000 people, the most of any city in the U.S., as well as the highest rate of homeless shelters (35.1) and food banks (17.1).
Hartford and Providence, Rhode Island, were either first or second among the major cities in ice rinks, Christmas tree lots, gift shops and holiday markets. Minneapolis, Orlando and Pittsburgh rounded out the least Grinchy cities.
