Inside NYC Gingerbread Mans massive Big Apple-themed candy city with hot dog stands, cab-driving Santa Claus

Gotham’s gone gingerbread.Self-appointed Big Apple gingerbread man, Jon Lovtich of Queens, has erected another decadent Yuletide display for the tradition’s 30th anniversary — and it’s the first time his record-breaking exhibit pays homage to the city he calls home.Lovitch, the creative mind behind the Gingerbread Lane exhibit once displayed at Chelsea Market, found a new home for his candy community at The Shops at Columbus Circle this year — which inspired him to drum up more fanfare surrounding New York during Christmastime, he told The Post.“With the [holiday] market outside, and [the nearby] Rockefeller Center tree, Bloomingdales … the tourism here is huge,” said Lovitch, who holds the Guinness World Record four times over for the largest edible gingerbread village.“There’s such a confluence of New Yorkers and tourists together, they’re all coming to see New York City at Christmas — so let’s give them New York City at Christmas,” he added.The result is a 350,000-square-foot miniature Gotham displayed at The Shops at Columbus Circle, complete with 23,000 jelly beans, 300 pounds of gingerbread and 1,920 pounds of icing — which took over 800 hours to build over 12 months.Alongside references to the North Pole (with displays like “The Broken Ornament Shop”), the larger-than-life exhibit also features classic city staples from newspaper and hot dog stands to subway-themed lettering and Santa himself driving a yellow taxi cab, the artist said.“Every year, I don’t bring anything back ‚ everything’s new — except for one Santa Claus,” Lovtich said.

“It’s the very last touch I do every year, I take him at the end of the year and keep him, and every year he comes back to the exhibit.”The executive chef-turned-full-time gingerbread artist told The Post he begins crafting ideas for next year’s display about a year in advance, and constructs the massive display year-round from his home in Forest Hills before transporting...