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Last-Minute Shoppers Out In Force As Christmas, Chanukah Quickly Approach

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The hustle and bustle of the holiday is in full gear.

Christmas and Chanukah are falling on the same weekend this year for the first time in nearly four decades.

"Christmas is very year on December 25, but Chanukah is based on the lunar calendar, the Jewish calendar, so it just kind of coincides at the same time," Rev. Joe Greene told CBS2's Lou Young.

Greene, the pastor at St. John's Episcopal Church in Larchmont has been preparing for the weekend as has his counterpart up the street at Larchmont Temple.

In his sermon Saturday, the rabbi reminded worshipers that while the holidays may coincide, they are not equal.

"Christmas is a major festival. Chanukah is really minor on our calendar, not the high holy days. It got its per-eminence, its prominence when we came to America," Rabbi Jeffrey Sirkman said.

It commemorates an ancient siege with a mystical overlay likely applied centuries later. Candles are lit to makr the legend of an oil supply that lasted longer than it should have.

Like Christmas, it's a respite from the dark of winter.

"It happens at the darkest time of the year, that's really the connection," Sirkman said, "The light. It's all about the light."

"It's the light that shines in the darkness, it's the light that illuminates our pathways," Greene added.

The calendar this year may change a few routines where culture and religion intersect.

"We're having Chinese food to celebrate Chanukah, because usually everything's closed since they're coming together," Louis Elton said.

The holidays are sentimental favorites, but theology is always more complex.

Easter is the bigger Christian holiday.

"Everyone loves it when babies are born, but we don't like to talk about executions," Greene said.

The confluence meant more people were out and about Thursday, shopping for last-minute gifts.

Francesca Trezza, of Franklin Square, was trying to check off the final items on her list at the Bryant Park Winter Village.

"I'm doing all my last minute Christmas shopping," she said.

Matt was picking up presents at 4 a.m. Thursday at a Walmart that's open around the clock in North Bergen.

"I'm on my break now trying to get this last-minute Christmas shopping out of the way," he told 1010 WINS' John Montone.

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John Whitehead, of Virginia, was trying to spread some holiday cheer in Bryant Park, playing maracas and just bee-bopping along for the day, CBS2's Vanessa Murdock reported. He said no other place does the holidays like New York City.

"All the decorations, the songs, people singing on the sidewalks, where I come from they don't do any of that," Whitehead said.

New Yorker R.O. Crouch says this is his first year selling R. Nichols artwork in Bryant Park, and with the weekend quickly approaching, it's crunch time.

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"It's definitely picked up," Crouch said.

For those hoping for a white Christmas, Murdock reported Sullivan, Ulster and Duchess counties may get one because of the snow that's already on the ground. It is highly unlikely for the rest of the Tri-State area to enjoy a white Christmas, which is defined as there being one inch of snow on the ground.

This is the 4th time in 116 years that Chanukah has fallen on Christmas Eve, the next time the holidays overlap will be in 2019. Next year Chanukah begins on December 12.

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