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If you walked past Central Park this week and noticed a massive new structure rising over Fifth Avenue, you weren’t imagining it. The world’s largest menorah—an unmistakable 36-foot-tall New York holiday fixture—has officially gone up at Grand Army Plaza, right at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, across from the Plaza Hotel.
The towering menorah was assembled early Wednesday morning, December 10, drawing curious onlookers, camera phones and the annual reminder that Hanukkah season has arrived in the city. Once fully installed, the steel structure is taller than a three-story building and weighs roughly 4,000 pounds, making it both symbolic and logistically impressive.
The menorah will be lit nightly from December 14 through December 21, marking all eight nights of Hanukkah with public ceremonies that typically include live music, dancing and classic holiday treats like donuts, latkes and chocolate gelt. Lighting times vary slightly—earlier on Friday afternoon, later on Saturday night—but the final evening culminates in the full blaze of all lights at once.
While massive menorahs pop up across the city (and the world) each December, this one holds a very specific bragging right. Designed by renowned Israeli artist Yaacov Agam and inspired by a sketch attributed to Maimonides of the original Temple menorah in Jerusalem, the Manhattan installation is officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world. (There’s another famously huge menorah in Brooklyn, but at 32 feet tall, it comes in just a bit shorter.)
The tradition dates back to 1977, when the menorah was first erected at this midtown plaza, and it has been organized ever since by the Lubavitch Youth Organization. Over the decades, it has become one of the city’s most visible Hanukkah landmarks, drawing locals, tourists and public officials alike.
This year’s lighting carries extra resonance as the U.S. approaches its 250th anniversary, with organizers emphasizing the menorah as a broader symbol of religious freedom and public expression in New York’s shared civic space.
The lights aren’t on just yet, but the scale alone is enough to stop passersby in their tracks. Starting December 14, Grand Army Plaza will shift from a midtown crossroads to one of the city’s most visible Hanukkah hubs.
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