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…