Last week, outrage over the alignment of the Holland Tunnel’s Christmas decorations spurred the Port Authority to hold a public poll attempting to gauge where drivers would prefer the decorations be placed. It asked: Did commuters want the decorations to stay put, allowing the signage to remain looking more like “HOLLAAD TONNEL”? Would they prefer if the tree were placed over the “A”? Did they want the second wreath removed? Did they want a second tree added?
The survey closed on Sunday, December 16, at 5 p.m. (Although we had our own suggestion for the alignment of the decorations here at the Cut, it seems the suggestion was never added to the available options, even though the idea quite good. So be it.)
Today, the Port Authority announced the result of the poll, as well as the plan for future decoration-related action. They’ve heard the plaintive cries of their decoration-scorned public, and they want to make things right. It seems your voices were heard. The “HOLLAAD TONNEL” is destined to become a sweet Christmas memory, to be replaced with — are you ready to find out?
Here it is:
H [WREATH] LL [TREE] ND TUNNEL
Just two decorations, the wreath and the tree, placed judiciously over the “O” and the “A.” The word TUNNEL left with nothing. It seems you’ve gotten what you wanted. The decorations have been “fixed.”
But has Christmas ever been about perfection? Has Christmas ever been about taking something wild and beautiful and sterilizing it … forcing something interesting into a straight line for easy mass consumption? Has Christmas ever been about leaving a whole word with no decorations at all, just because it doesn’t have any “O”s or “A”s?
To some, maybe.
I just hope they’re happy.
