The gingerbread city is back on Fifth Avenue. Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off, the Museum of the City of New York's holiday exhibition, has returned for its fifth year and runs through January 18, 2027 at the museum, at Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street in East Harlem.

The idea is the same as in past years. The museum invites bakers from all five boroughs, professionals and amateurs alike, to build a piece of New York out of gingerbread. The results go on display together as one miniature, frosted city, with candy-lined streets and edible towers standing in for the real thing.

This year's theme: Iconic New York

Bakers were asked to take their inspiration from a building, a place or a symbol of the city. In the museum's past editions on the same theme, entrants were encouraged to pick something that stands for their own neighborhood, community or borough, so the displays tend to be local: a block of shops, a train line, a ferry, a corner bakery, as much as a skyline landmark.

That local streak runs through the bake-off's history. In its first year, 2022, the winning entries included an Astoria baker's model of her own block of storefronts, a Long Island City bakery's tribute to the 7 train, a Staten Island family bakery's tour of the borough with the ferry in it, and a Belmont pastry shop that has been on East 187th Street since 1912.

Who is judging

A panel of judges awards several themed prizes. The 2026 judges are:

  • Bobbie Lloyd, chief brand officer and chief baking officer of Magnolia Bakery
  • Nadine Orenstein, curator in charge of the Department of Drawings and Prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a former judge of the National Gingerbread House Competition in Asheville, North Carolina
  • Amy Scherber, founder of Amy's Bread, which she started in 1992, and operator of Chalsty's Cafe inside the museum
  • Melba Wilson, owner of Melba's Restaurant, including the original Melba's in Harlem and Melba's Grand Central Terminal

Visitors get a vote too. One more prize, the People's Choice, is decided by ballots cast by museum visitors during the run of the show.

More on the calendar

The museum has two events planned around the exhibition on the first weekend of December:

  • Gingerbread Community Day, Saturday, Dec. 5, from 11 a.m.: a family day of hands-on art-making, storytelling and seasonal traditions drawn from the city's communities.
  • Holiday Market, Saturday, Dec. 5, and Sunday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m.: the museum is partnering with Brooklyn Pop-up to bring in artisans, designers and makers from across the five boroughs.

Tickets and hours

Admission includes every exhibition in the building. Tickets are $23 for adults, $18 for seniors 65 and up and $14 for students 19 and older, with ID. Visitors 18 and under get in free. New York City residents can pay what they can with ID, and Wednesdays are free for everyone, with free tickets available only at the ticket counter. The museum sells advance tickets for the exhibition online.

The museum is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and stays open until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays. Check the calendar before a weekend trip: the museum closes early at 5 p.m. today, Saturday, Nov. 7, closes at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and is closed all day on Saturday, Nov. 21. It is also closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Getting there

The Museum of the City of New York is at 1220 Fifth Avenue, at 103rd Street, across from Central Park, with a ramp entrance at 104th Street. Take the 6 train to 103rd Street and walk three blocks west, or the 2 or 3 to Central Park North/110th Street, then one block east to Fifth Avenue and south. The M1, M2, M3, M4 and M106 buses stop at 104th Street.

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