(Current wishes include love, success, and Taylor Swift tickets.)
But dont get used to them.
Theyre only here for five weeks and for one reason: to sell Christmas trees.
Nico Regrets, a Christmas tree seller at 57th Street and Ninth Avenue.As designer flannelstrend on the runway, New York’s Christmas tree sellers are a reminder of the clothing item’s functional origins.
A tree farm company provided them with firs, their shed, and a baler.
Then she reveals her Christmas wish: Were hoping for a million, she adds, laughing.
They also decorate themselves: Mary has pink gems across her teeth and often accessorizes with a colorful balaclava.
Mary outside her shed on Christopher and Hudson streets in the West Village. “We like having colorful items that we can mix and match,” the French Canadian tree seller says of her cold-weather wear.
Both give a shot to wear either red or green each day, under pairs of Carhartt overalls.
We like having colorful items that we can mix and match to do a nice look, she says.
Mary outside her shed on Christopher and Hudson streets in the West Village.
Millie and Mary’s Christmas Tree booth on Christopher and Hudson streets in the West Village, which they painted it themselves. The two women asked only to be identified by first names.
The two women asked only to be identified by first names.
On Christmas Eve, their job is done.
One of them is my new lover too, Mollie says, full of joy.
Hans Aubert, a Christmas tree seller at 57th Street and Ninth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen
We have lovers that are Christmas tree sellers!
(The rent he paid to do so?
You dont need any permits or special certificates from the state to sell trees.
A young customer inspects a tree at Tamarack Brook Farm in Windsor Terrace.
You just need permission from the landlord who owns the building you operate in front of.
They dont have much time to make their money.
Like milk, their product has a strict sell-by date: December 24.
Ulisse “Uli” Narici-Porter, an employee of Tamarack Brook Farm in Windsor Terrace, wears a New York Knicks sweatshirt. Some tree sellers, like Narici-Porter, are New Yorkers. Others are temporary workers from places like Vermont or Canada.
Some operators and their employees are native New Yorkers.
But many hail from tree-lined lands north: Vermont, New Hampshire, or Quebec.
(Mollie and Mary, for example, met while hitchhiking.)
Gabe Tempesta, the owner of Tamarack Brook Farm in Windsor Terrace, in a green sweater and Carhartt pants from the 1990s that he bought on eBay. He’s also a landscape painter: “I sell Christmas trees so I can paint when I get home,” he says.
A young customer inspects a tree at Tamarack Brook Farm in Windsor Terrace.
Others use the income to support a passion.
Tempesta has done this job for around 13 years.
The Romps, who have sold trees for 35 years, are beloved New York holiday figures. In 1998, Billy Romp published a book,Christmas on Jane Street.
At first, he was just helping the owner of a Vermont Christmas tree farm sell his stock.
But now the owner is retiring.
Tempesta is taking over his lots and growing hisowntrees up north.
Billy Romp at the Romp Family Christmas Tree location on Jane Street. He and his family travel from Vermont every year to sell Christmas trees in the West Village.
Once his trees reach maturityin 8 to 10 yearshell be a one-stop tree shop.
Some tree sellers, like Narici-Porter, are New Yorkers.
Others are temporary workers from places like Vermont or Canada.
Greg Walsh, owner of Greg’s Trees (one of the largest Christmas tree sellers in New York), sitting on Santa’s throne at his Greenwood Park location. Later that night he hosted a Christmas tree lighting for the neighborhood.
Tempesta is just one of many tree salesmen who have been in New York for a decade or more.
Then theres Greg Walsh.
The Romps, who have sold trees for 35 years, are beloved New York holiday figures.
Taylor Crosby and Lena Wilhelm, employees of Greg’s Trees at the new Tin Building location at South Street Seaport
In 1998, Billy Romp published a book,Christmas on Jane Street.
He asked him how he got the job.
The stall attendant introduced him to his boss, who hired him on the spot.
Rob Walsh cuts a tree for a customer at their new location outside the Tin Building. Greg’s Trees run seven different locations around the city
Soon enough they became partnersand switched to selling Christmas trees when demand for fruit cooled in the colder months.
Billy Romp at the Romp Family Christmas Tree location on Jane Street.
He and his family travel from Vermont every year to sell Christmas trees in the West Village.
Looking south from the SoHo Trees location in Manhattan on Varick and Canal streets
On the night I visit, hes having a tree-lighting ceremony for anyone and everyone who stops by.
In past years, that was Walsh.
But not this time.
Lee Vargas, an employee of SoHo Trees, wears camouflage cargo pants to work at their Varick Street location.
Hes currently going through chemotherapy and feared his beard wouldnt be long enough.
(His dental assistant kindly volunteered to be an elf.)
We ask him to sit on the throne for a portrait.
Orlando Mendez, an employee of SoHo Trees, wearing the company’s custom hats.
Walsh obliges, telling us a colorful story about how he acquired it from the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Afterward, I wish him luck with his treatment.
Life is short for all of us, he says.
Claudia Power, an employee of SoHo Trees. With long, all-outdoor shifts in a city with unpredictable weather, employees must be prepared for both 30- and 60-degree days.
Then he turns into his trees, bellowing a hearty ho ho ho as he goes.
Later that night he hosted a Christmas tree lighting for the neighborhood.
Orlando Mendez, an employee of SoHo Trees, wearing the companys custom hats.
Employees of SoHo Trees carry Christmas trees from a delivery.
Claudia Power, an employee of SoHo Trees.
Employees of SoHo Trees carry Christmas trees from a delivery.
Handmade ornaments for sale at the 73rd and Broadway Christmas tree booth, dubbed Le Chic Shack
Peter “Fir” Pendule, a tree seller at 73rd and Broadway in the Upper West Side of Manhattan
Amanda, a Christmas tree seller at 69th Street and Columbus Avenue
Billy Romp tidying up at the Romp Family Christmas Tree location on Jane Street in the West Village
