10 New York holiday gifts for $20 or less

You don’t need to break the bank this year to get gifts for friends and family. Here are ten ideas for fun, inexpensive presents that are very New York. And you’ll be supporting some of the city’s most treasured institutions at a time when they really need it.

1. New York City Subway Line T-shirts: $20 – “Welcome aboard the dynamite D train!” my favorite subway conductor used to announce enthusiastically every morning.  Like so many other quirky and wonderful New York treasures, this conductor seems to have disappeared…or maybe he was just disciplined. But now you can get a black T-shirt that celebrates your favorite subway line, whether it’s the D, F, S, 1 or 4 or 5, from the MTA’s Transit Museum’s online store.

2. We Are Happy to Serve You – Greek Coffee Shop Mug: $12.95 – The quintessential New York coffee cup is not the ubiquitous Starbucks take-out cup with the brown sleeve. Long before Starbucks descended on our city, New Yorkers were consuming tons of take-out coffee—almost all of it from local, mom-and-pop coffee shops run by Greek immigrants. Those classic paper coffee cups have now become immortalized…well almost…as ceramic mugs. Get one for your favorite die-hard New Yorker at the New York Historical Society’s online gift shop. (search for "mug")

3. Ramones: An American Band – The story of the Ramones: $18.95 – Punk started right here in New York, of course. Some say it all began in 1974 with the Ramones, those rowdy boys in black leather from Forest Hills, Queens. (Although you could argue Patti Smith was really out there first.) Next thing you know Joey, Johnny, Dee-Dee and Tommy were crashing through anthems like “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” at CBGB’s…and the Bowery would never be the same. Love them or hate them, you can read all about their wild and wooly escapades—or at least some of them—in this authorized history that contains 60 photographs and illustrations. Buy it from the Museum of the City of New York’s online gift shop and you’ll support this great institution.

4. The Night at the Museum, a picture book by Milan Trenc: $6.99  - Before it was a movie starring Ben Stiller and Robin Williams, it was a picture book by Milan Trenc. And long before it was a picture book, it was every New York kid’s fantasy to spend the night at the American Museum of Natural History. Any child on your list who’s between the ages of 4 and 8 is sure to love this story about the night guard who does exactly that. Use your holiday gift list as an excuse to visit the museum one more time, or purchase the book from online Museum Shop.

5. New York City in a bag: $15 – Now you can get the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Guggenheim and MoMA’s orignal 1939 building, plus six cars, all for just $15.  Well, at least you can get small wooden versions of them. A great gift for grownups and kids who are at least 12 years old. Buy New York City in a bag at the Museum of Modern Art’s gift shop or the online MoMA store.

6. Naked Lens: Beat Cinema by Jack Sargeant: $18.95 – Before they were officially launched with the famous Six Gallery reading in San Francisco, the Beats were doing their beat thing—writing poetry, smoking reefer, listening to jazz and arguing deep into the night—in New York City. If you’ve never seen “Pull My Daisy,” Robert Frank’s classic movie about the scene, you should definitely watch it at this link. But if you know somebody who wants the whole low-down on the intersection between Beat culture and the movies, this book is for him or her. Head into Book Culture, the bookstore that’s just a couple of blocks from the now-defunct West End Bar, where the Beats once hung out. Or buy in on the web from Book Culture’s book site.

7. Rocko Flake Sled: $12 – For only twelve dollars you can make some New York City kid very happy this winter. This plastic sledding seat is way better than the classic corrugated cardboard we used when we were children—it doesn’t get soggy. Nor does it take up much space in the proverbially miniscule New York closet. Once your favorite child receives this wonderful invention, all she or he needs to do is stake out the highest hill in his or her favorite city park…and pray for snow!  Buy the Rocko Flake sled at the Cooper Hewitt Museum’s shop online.

8. Birds of Central Park by Cal Vornberger: $17.50. – Believe it or not, Central Park is one of top birding spots in America. More than 200 species pass through the park on their annual migrations. And then there are the New York celebrities, like Pale Male. These beautiful photos of birds in Central Park will please birdwatchers and non-birdwatchers alike. Packaged with the book is a fold-out pocket guide to take to the park, next time. This book is perfect for New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers too. Who knows? It may even inspire those friends and family who live far away to visit more often. Buy it from the New York Public Library’s online shop.

9. Magnum’s New Yorkers: $9.95 – So exactly who is crazy enough to live here anyway? It seems the photographers who worked for Magnum in New York were always asking that question. This book contains 30 classic black and white photographs of New York City life as seen through the eyes of Magnum photographers. Buy it from the Museum of the City of New York’s gift shop on the web.

10. Chocolate Subway Tokens: $5 – Subway tokens may not get us to South Ferry these days. But they may get us sweet-tooth Nirvana… in the form of mint chocolate candy. They come in packages of ten, are kosher, and offer a very New York twist on Hanukkah gelt. Order packages of them from the MTA’s Transit Museum store.