I asked NYC Tourist Guides about their favorite churches for Christmas in New York

St. John the Divine may have an absolutely gorgeous midnight mass on Christmas Eve.  St John’s JUST reopened after the renovation from the last fire; it’s beautiful.

St Patrick's Christmas day mass is nice.  Christmas Eve tickets are gone.

Holy Cross on W 42nd, old neighborhood church

Grace Church on Broadway in the Village.

St. Peter's Lutheran does a really nice midnight mass with professional choir.

Two Brooklyn options for different experiences: All Saints Episcopal on 7th Ave (Park Slope) has a free concert before the service by Grammy winning pianist/composer Arturo O’Farril (with his orchestra) and a very nice service in a fine church.

Else Herskind Grotrian 9pm concert and 10pm service at All Saints. Sit up front on the left. No one ever does and you get to sit right by the performers. They stay for the service and play the offertory.

1st Presbyterian (Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights) has a spectacular gospel-style choir and a gorgeous 1846,Tiffany-windowed church with a beautiful service.

The Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral on Prince and Mott.

Christmas Eve:
Vigil mass 5:30pm

MIDNIGHT MASS: 11:00PM

PRECEDED BY CAROLS: 10:15pm

Christmas Day:
9:15AM (English)
10:15AM (Chinese)
11:30AM (Spanish)
12:45PM (English)

any Catholic would get a huge kick out of the history that's baked into the place, and also the amount of famous bishops that are interred or honored there.

Riverside Church

Abyssinian Baptist Church for Eve or Day.

St Francis Xavier on West 16th. For Midnight Mass, arrive at 10 for a seat and carols.  Architecturally very attractive.

First Presbyterian in Manhattan.

St. Luke's in the Field, on Hudson Street.

Church of the Ascenson on 10th Street and Fifth.

St. Malachy’s aka the Actors Church on W 49th. Where the Broadway actors used to attend mass. It was delightful...good singers as you could imagine!  RC

A beloved Tour Operator from suburban Boston who brings me delightful tourists to New York City had this to say: 

Our travelers were lucky to have had you guide them, and for any future NYC tours you're our first contact for sure :)

The guests they connected to me was a culture focused group of mature adults who experience the world.  They came to New York City for theater and sightseeing.  I helped as Tour Manager, efficiently navigating NYC, attractions, and reservations, and as New York Tourist Guide.

Some raves this week that I am so proud of: 

From a UK School Tour Operator: 

Our client,... loved you and the tour.

We saw Castle Clinton in Battery Park, the Dutch Flagpole, the Customs House, the old counting houses near Fraunces Tavern, the Charging Bull, the New York Stock Exchange, the Fearless Girl, Federal Hall, Wall Street, the Equitable Building, and the World Trade Center and its 9/11 Memorial. 

This high school group was in New York City for retail studies and business. I have been leading NYC tours for this school's Tour Operator, my client, since around 2007. They do a great job. 

I also do tours for hotel Concierges' guests. A colorful NYC Tour Guide since the 1980s is a favorite of Concierges, and he hired me to do a duet with him for a lovely couple. This maestro Guide wanted a Financial District expert to do a dual tour. It was great fun for all of us. We toured Trinity Church yard, marveled at Hamilton's tomb, visited the Bank of New York, Wall Street, the NYSE, the Fearless Girl, the Charging Bull, the World Financial Center, the Oculus, the World Trade Center and its 9/11 Memorial, and the Brooklyn Bridge. 

This what he said about our time: 

Our guests were very happy with your wonderful tour and I am grateful for your service as well. 
We will keep in touch and I’ll recommend your services in future.

I love doing tours with fellow Guides! If you can afford it, hire two Guides! I know great ones, and we really feed off each other.

One of my Metropolitan Museum of Art tour's stories involves the fortune from a mass-market low-brow but high-quality 'little magazine,' and the best regular arrangements of flowers known, in one of the highest brow establishments in our world.

Read the full article on Artsy: Remco van Vliet, the Florist Who Fills the Met’s Great Hall with Flowers