There were smatterings of snow in unfortunate pockets of the northeast this morning. I know it’s technically fall, but let’s keep it New York real: winter here tends to bleed into our abbreviated spring and autumn seasons. I can hardly recall more than one or two mild Thanksgivings; usually, standing along the parade route is a fate worse than the dreaded “non-seasonal wardrobe” call. You know, when, for example, you’re shooting exteriors and they want to make it look like a sunny non-seasonally specific day, although it’s February and you could shave ice from a mail box and build a snow cone? Militant wardrobe assistants remove your coat upon rolling, then take five minutes to return aforementioned outerwear, causing you to acquire bronchitis, which then keeps you from auditioning or working for ten days. And you think, “Why am I not on a one-way flight to Hawaii? I already play the uke…”

Winter in New York is grand and glorious and festive, but also chilly, to say the least, and, well, full of people. Despite these surely surmountable disadvantages, I would never give up the opportunity to indulge in just a little bit of holiday season Big Apple-style. Here’s a few survival tips on navigating the Hunger Games-esque landscape of midtown Manhattan during November and December.

Rockefeller Center Rumble
After safely securing your urban armor—with helmet—proceed to holiday ground zero, the tree. I saw the gigantic pine the first day it arrived—it suffers a bit in transit and gets one heck of a face lift—the greens wranglers perform a cosmetic miracle of Demi Moore proportions. Expect mayhem at the upcoming televised lighting (Wednesday, December 3rd). Weekday afternoon visits to the tree are less hectic, especially more than two weeks out from the big 12-25. Get to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular show early—and be prepared to cash in your great-great grandfather’s Civil War bonds to pay for tickets. Don’t expect to park or unload on the street anywhere near Rock Center. You won’t be able to cross directly to the northeast corner of 50 & 6th, either—the main entrance to the music hall. Oh, did you book a Stage Door Tour? It’ll be abridged and begin and end on the 51st street entrance of the building—the actual stage door.

Theatre District Death Zone
Okay, the above title might be a bit dramatic, but we are talking about the THEATRE district, after all. Arrive at the theater at least one half hour before curtain so you don’t feel you have to battle the masses to your row OR arrive exactly five minutes before curtain and dart into your aisle seat sans reading Playbill. If you aren’t entertaining children, save the family-friendly shows for January, when the kids are back in school—Wednesday matinee, preferably. If you need a break from the never-ending stream of tourists, avoid popular Times Square haunts like Junior’s Cheesecake and Guy Fieri’s failure; instead, head over to 9th or 10th Avenue for dinner in Hell’s Kitchen. Tourists hardly walk West of 9th Ave. Also, if you can’t face the December doubly-long line of TKTS, check out the free smartphone app “Today Tix”. Right now, for example, you can see SIDE SHOW and HEDWIG each for under 50 bucks, THIS IS OUR YOUTH for 35, and LOVE LETTERS, for just 27 dollars. Even Santa can’t get those prices.

To recap… the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is up and running, lights are being strung around the Rockefeller Center tree; for the love of original musicals, STAY LOW and AVOID stray reindeers and runaway Rockettes!