For the second year, the Museum of the City of New York presents Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off – a gingerbread competition and celebration of communities and neighborhoods in each of the city’s five boroughs. On view to the public starting Friday, November 10, 2023 and lasting through Monday, January 15, 2024, the Gingerbread NYC installation at the Museum gives New Yorkers and tourists an opportunity to celebrate the city.
MCNY invited professional and independent bakers from across the city to create a gingerbread display representing their respective neighborhoods, inspired by the theme “Iconic New York.” Submissions represent all five boroughs, and the final designs were judged by New York City-based bakers, curators, and restaurant owners. Prizes will be awarded in a range of categories including “Best in Borough,” “Grandest” and “Most Iconic.” There will also be an opportunity for visitors to scan a QR code to vote for their favorites.
“We are savoring MCNY’s centennial year and celebrating the holidays with our annual Gingerbread NYC installation,” says Stephanie Wilchfort, Ronay Menschel director and president of the Museum of the City of New York. “Last year’s installation was a joy to behold (not to mention to smell). Now, we once again have the sweet opportunity to highlight the special ingredient that makes New York, New York, creative people -- professionals and amateurs alike -- who hail from around the city.”
Participants in Gingerbread NYC 2023 include:
Bronx
- Camaxtli Gallegos – Bronx Zoo
- Egidio Pastry Shop – Yankee Stadium
- Patty Pops – Hip-Hop
- Valerie Carrington – Yankee Stadium
Brooklyn
- A Cake Baked In Brooklyn – Brooklyn Icons
- Kathryn Irizarry & Kayla Wong - –Brooklyn Icons
- Ida Kreutzer – Water Street
- L’Appartment 4F – Brooklyn Bridge
- Holly Longworth – Circo's Pastry Shop
- Leonard Marino – Brooklyn Botanic Garden
- SottoVoce & Something Sugared – Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch (Grand Army Plaza)
- Debbie Wee – Brooklyn Museum
Manhattan
- César Aldrete - The Met Cloisters
- Cray Cray for Cakes LLC – Jefferson Market Library and Garden
- Lorenzo Delgado – Rockefeller Center
- Loretta Bricchi Lee – American Museum of Natural History
- Ma Smith’s Dessert Café – The Apollo Theater
- Sarina Harnett - Lincoln Center
- Sonia Dębek – New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
Queens
- Karen Chin – New York Hall of Science
- Filiz Cihan Cemberci – Engine 293 Firehouse
- Sherry Kozlowski – Louis Armstrong House Museum
- Nishat Shahabuddin - 74th Street, Jackson Heights
Staten Island
- Chua Cookie – Historic Richmond Town
Participating judges for the competition include:
- Bobbie Lloyd, CEO and Chief Baking Officer, Magnolia Bakery
- Jonah Nigh, Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement, The New School; Semi-finalist, NBC/Peacock’s Baking It (Season 1)
- Nadine Orenstein, Drue Heinz Curator in Charge, Department of Drawings and Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Former Judge, National Gingerbread House Competition in Asheville, NC
- Amy Scherber, Owner and Founder, Amy's Bread; Member, Bread Bakers Guild of America
- Melba Wilson, Owner, Melba’s Restaurant; Author, Melba’s American Comfort: 100 Recipes from My Heart to Your Kitchen (2016)
