In its heyday, Union Square was a holiday destination, with crowds lining up to see the festive window displays in its department stores. Today’s news about Union Square is decidedly less cheerful, with reports of robberies and increasingly empty storefronts. But even if its future is uncertain, one tradition is still with us—the SPCA’s holiday windows at Macy’s.
It started back in 1987. That’s when the now-shuttered Gump’s department store decided to bring their famous holiday window decorations to the next level. They partnered with the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or SPCA, to have adoptable puppies and kittens playing in their windows.
Macy’s took over from Gump’s in the mid-1990s, and that’s where the tradition continues today. On Friday, a small crowd gathered around one of the windows as SPCA volunteers gave out information and answered questions:
“Aw, how old are they?”
“They're two months old. And then the two, three kittens over there are one month…”
Five kittens made their appearance — Ernestine, Eloise and Emery in one window and Phoebe and Spike in another.
There’s no predicting whether there will be puppies or kittens on any given day, which was a small disappointment for at least a few visitors. Here’s Susan, who came down from Sebastopol:
“Yeah, I was hoping there were puppies. I wasn't going to get one—I just got a puppy not that long ago. But I just like looking at them!”
In the 38 years since those first windows at Gump’s, the SPCA estimates that 10,000 dogs and cats have been adopted as a result of these displays.
We can all imagine the heart-warming scene of giving a puppy or kitten as a holiday gift. But there’s been concern over the years from animal welfare organizations, warning that pets are a lifelong commitment that shouldn’t come as surprise gifts.
Here’s Julie Richter a spokesperson for the SPCA:
“All of our adoptions folks want to make sure that everyone's making a really sound decision. That the whole family's involved. They want to prevent anyone returning their animal. They don't want—they don't encourage surprise gifts.”
But a different kind of surprise arrived earlier this year. Macy’s announced that it would close its flagship store in Union Square. That makes the future of this holiday tradition uncertain.
Through the end of this year, the SPCA’s holiday windows will be on display at Macy’s Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 6pm, at the corner of Ellis and O’Farrell Streets.
