A day after his release from the hospital, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino paid his annual Christmas Eve visit to a Dorchester youth center Monday, saying it felt good to be out and about in the city again, especially during the holidays.

“It gives you an energy,” Menino told a crowd that gathered around his SUV near the steps of the Teen Center at St. Peter’s in the Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood, where young children were receiving donated toys. “It’s good to be back in touch with people.”