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Tag: Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

  • Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrives in Manhattan, kicking off New York’s holiday season

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    The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was hoisted aloft at its new home in Manhattan on Saturday, marking the start of New York City’s holiday season.This year’s tree is a 75-foot-tall Norway spruce from the upstate town of East Greenbush, a suburb of Albany. After being cut down this week, it made the roughly 150-mile journey south on a flatbed truck, drawing curious onlookers along the way.The crowds were much bigger at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where workers used cranes to hoist the 11-ton tree into position overlooking the iconic skating rink. People gathered with coffee cups and phones as crews secured the spruce and began the careful process of stabilizing it.The tree will soon be decorated with more than 50,000 multicolored, energy-efficient LED lights and crowned with a Swarovski star weighing 900 pounds.It will be lit Dec. 3 during a live TV broadcast hosted by country music star Reba McEntire and remain on display until mid-January, after which it will be milled into lumber for use by the affordable housing nonprofit Habitat for Humanity.The tree was donated by homeowner Judy Russ and her family. She said it was planted by her husband’s great-grandparents in the 1920s.”For this to now become the center of New York City Christmas is incredible,” Russ told the radio station 1010 WINS.The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was put up by workers in 1931 to raise spirits during the Great Depression. The comparatively modest 20-foot balsam fir was outfitted with garlands handmade by the workers’ families.The tradition stuck as the first tree-lighting ceremony was held in 1933.

    NEW YORK —

    The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was hoisted aloft at its new home in Manhattan on Saturday, marking the start of New York City’s holiday season.

    This year’s tree is a 75-foot-tall Norway spruce from the upstate town of East Greenbush, a suburb of Albany. After being cut down this week, it made the roughly 150-mile journey south on a flatbed truck, drawing curious onlookers along the way.

    The crowds were much bigger at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where workers used cranes to hoist the 11-ton tree into position overlooking the iconic skating rink. People gathered with coffee cups and phones as crews secured the spruce and began the careful process of stabilizing it.

    The tree will soon be decorated with more than 50,000 multicolored, energy-efficient LED lights and crowned with a Swarovski star weighing 900 pounds.

    It will be lit Dec. 3 during a live TV broadcast hosted by country music star Reba McEntire and remain on display until mid-January, after which it will be milled into lumber for use by the affordable housing nonprofit Habitat for Humanity.

    The tree was donated by homeowner Judy Russ and her family. She said it was planted by her husband’s great-grandparents in the 1920s.

    “For this to now become the center of New York City Christmas is incredible,” Russ told the radio station 1010 WINS.

    The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was put up by workers in 1931 to raise spirits during the Great Depression. The comparatively modest 20-foot balsam fir was outfitted with garlands handmade by the workers’ families.

    The tradition stuck as the first tree-lighting ceremony was held in 1933.

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  • Revealed! Meet the 2025 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree

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    Hold on to your Halloween decorations. It’s time for tinsels and the big Rockefeller Christmas tree reveal.

    Real estate giant Tishman Speyer announced Monday that the 2025 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will be coming from East Greenbush, New York.

    The tree joining what is now NBC’s annual tradition is an 11-ton Norway Spruce. It’s 75-feet tall and 45-feet wide, according to Rockefeller Center. The tree is set to arrive in the city next month ahead of the lighting.

    This year’s tree, estimated to be about 75 years old, is being donated by the Russ family.

    “I’m excited to make more cherished memories with my family and childhood friends as it becomes the world’s Christmas tree,” said Judy Russ.

    Here’s everything we know so far about the festivities and more fun facts about the annual extravaganza.

    Meet the 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of Tishman Speyer) ()

    When is the Rockefeller Christmas tree arriving?

    The 2025 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will be cut down from West Stockbridge on Nov. 6 before it travels roughly 130 miles to Manhattan. It will arrive in the plaza on Saturday, Nov. 8, and be hoisted into place.

    How will the tree be decorated?

    After arriving on Center Plaza, more than 50,000 multi-colored LEDs will be strung over about 5 miles of wire to adorn the 2025 tree. It will then be crowned with a 9-foot, 900-pound Swarovski star covered in 3 million crystals.

    When is the tree lighting?

    The tree lighting show is set to kick off at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 3. You’ll be able to watch NBC’s “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” in a live broadcast on TV, on Peacock and wherever you stream NBC 4 New York.

    Here’s a brief history of the tree-lighting

    • 1931 – Construction workers building Rockefeller Center put up a Christmas tree, the first-ever Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.
    • 1933 – First formal Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony. The tree was decked with 700 lights in front of the eight-month-old RCA Building.
    • 1936 – Two trees, each 70 feet (21.3 m) tall, were erected. For the first time the Lighting Ceremony included a skating pageant on the newly opened Rockefeller Plaza Outdoor Ice Skating Pond.
    • 1942 – Three trees were placed on Rockefeller Plaza, one decorated in red, one in white and one in blue to show support for our troops serving during World War II.
    • 1949 – The tree was painted silver, to look like snow.
    • 1951 – The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was lit for the first time on national television on the Kate Smith Show.
    • 1966 – The first tree from outside the United States was erected. It was given by Canada, in honor of the Centennial of its Confederation. This is the farthest distance a tree has traveled to Rockefeller Center.
    • 1980 – For the 50th tree lighting, a 70-foot-tall (21.3 m) Norway Spruce came from the grounds of the Immaculate Conception Seminary of Mahwah, N.J. Bob Hope participated in the lighting.
    • 1999 – The largest tree in Rockefeller Center history, 100 feet tall, came from Killingworth, Connecticut.
    • 2004 – The Swarovski-designed star became the largest star to ever grace the tree.
    • 2007 – For the first time, the tree was lit with energy-efficient LEDs. They draw a fraction of the power that had been traditionally required by the tree, reducing energy consumption from 3,510 kwH to 1,297 kwH per day, saving as much energy as a family would use in a month in a 2,000-square-foot home. Hundreds of solar panels atop one of the Rockefeller Center buildings help power the new LEDs.
    • 2021 – For the first time, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree comes from Maryland.

    What happens to the Rockefeller Center tree after the Holidays?

    The tree will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.

    Disclosure: NBCUniversal is a long-term tenant of 30 Rockefeller Center.

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    NBC New York Staff

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