Christmas Necessities: Last-Minute Gifts, Airports, and Trash

Egads! It's Christmas morning and there's still shopping to be done? Queens Center Mall is closed, but the Flushing Mall is open Christmas day and plans a Christmas day celebration.

Christmas time in Queens means crowds at the airports. See our directions for getting to JFK and LGA to pick up your out-of-town guests -- and check their flight status for JFK or LaGuardia for the sake of your holidays.

Christmas time also means more garbage. Christmas and New Years disrupt trash and recycling pick-ups. NYC says to put your garbage out the night of the holiday for pick-up the following day. Can that be true that garbage crews will work this Sunday? If yours isn't taken on the 26th, it should be on Monday. Recycling won't be picked up this weekend; wait until January 2 to put out your wads of wrapping paper and cardboard.