New York Police Counterterrorism officers stand guard as people gather for the lighting of the world's largest Hanukkah menorah on the first night of Hanukkah, outside the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, New York City, US, December 14, 2025. © REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
(New York, NY) – Just days after a deadly terrorist attack left 15 people dead at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia — John Catsimatidis took a scissor lift, and rose 36-feet into the air. The 77 WABC owner-operator was in Midtown Manhattan to take part in the Jewish tradition, celebrating the Festival of Lights. Catsimatidis, a Christian American, noted how it’s time for everyone to stand tall for the world’s Jews.
All week long they’ve been saying “Chag Sameach!” at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue — Grand Army Plaza.
The World’s Largest Menorah was first lit just outside the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan in 1977. And for many years, Mr. Catsimatidis has taken part in the event. From his perspective, this is what it looked like as the menorah was lit on the fifth night of Hanukkah.
Meanwhile, New York City — and the world at large — is dealing with an apparent rise in anti-Semitism. It’s not just the attack at Australia’s Bondi Beach in Sydney, but also the recent shootings at Brown University — as well as the connected murder of an MIT professor in Brookline. It’s unconfirmed at this point, but reports have said the Brown University shooting shouted “Allahu Akbar!”
And yet it’s entirely true that during these dark times, it’s especially important to celebrate the light. That’s the spirit behind the public lighting of the World’s Largest Menorah in Midtown. It was in the 1970s when the Lubavitcher Rebbe — Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson — advocated for public displays of Jewish observance. The Lubavitch Youth Organization then set up the first public menorah in New York City at Grand Army Plaza, just south of Central Park.
Thousands were there for the first-ever lighting of the World’s Largest Menorah. US Senator Jacob Javits and Rabbi Shmuel Butman — director of the Lubavitch Youth Organization — who were lifted by a Con Edison cherry picker to light the menorah. Just like the one John used Thursday night.
Thousands were there in 1977. And that spirit endures today. Happy Hanukkah — and Merry Christmas — from everyone at 77 WABC.
