Every fall, while the rest of the city is watching leaves change or ordering their first pumpkin-spiced something, a quiet army of technicians, designers, and operators begins a very different seasonal ritual: transforming Fifth Avenue into a corridor of holiday wonder.

The installation of the Saks Fifth Avenue and Cartier Mansion Holiday Facade begins in September, under the cover of night, in bitter cold and swirling winds that funnel down the city’s avenues. This isn’t a leisurely process. It’s a carefully choreographed ballet of boom lift trucks, a constantly-moving collection of traffic cones. It’s cranes, scissor lifts, and dodging wayward taxis.

Lunar Telephone Company proudly serves as Production Designer for the Saks Fifth Avenue experience, overseeing scenery, lighting, and video integration. At Cartier, we take on the role of Lighting and Media Designer, adding shimmer and subtlety to one of the city’s most elegant corners. These aren’t just design roles - they’re logistical ones too, requiring deep coordination across teams and trades.

On Fifth Avenue, the holiday season doesn’t just “appear.” It’s carefully installed - overnight, piece by piece, cable by cable - with the kind of behind-the-scenes complexity most people never see.

Some of the key collaborators that make it happen:

AMA Sign & Electric leads the charge with the heavy lifting—rigging, mounting, and managing the large-scale physical installation. On top of those HUGE responsibilities, the team at AMA fabricates all of the scenery!
4Wall Entertainment handles the power and control infrastructure for both Saks and Cartier.
JTEK provides critical show support at Saks, ensuring playback and tech systems are show-ready each night.
And throughout it all, the orchestration and project management are led by American Christmas, whose team navigates permits, coordination, safety, and schedules with precision.

Add to that:

Lane closure permits
ConEdison power work
Midtown protests and spontaneous marches
UN assemblies and security checkpoints
And the small matter of the Rockefeller Center tree arriving around the corner…

… and it becomes clear that these projects aren’t just holiday displays. They’re feats of engineering and diplomacy, staged live on one of the busiest streets in the world.

And then there’s the weather. Cold and wind are the real villains here - affecting lift operations, rigging safety, cable routing, and even LED calibration. Still, every year, the teams persist - with frozen fingers, layered thermals, and quiet determination—to bring these shows to life.

For my team, we lean pretty hard into a couple life-saving pieces of gear:

Ororo heated apparel
Ubiquiti UniFi Access Points and Point-to-Point hardware
Paris Baguette coffee

When the lights go on for the first time in November, it all looks effortless. But it’s the weeks before - long nights on Fifth Avenue, lift baskets in motion, countdown clocks in hand - where the magic is truly made.

If you’re in New York, be sure to go see these projects - running until the end of 2025!

If you’re going to be in Las Vegas for LDI, come to my presentation on these projects! Fifth Avenue: After Dark @ LDI - Monday, Dec 8 @ 4:30pm

Fifth Avenue After Dark

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