NEW YORK — The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree arrived in New York City on Saturday, signaling the start of the holiday season in the Big Apple.
The 74-foot Norway spruce was driven into Manhattan's Center Plaza to be hoisted in place by a crane.
It was met in New York City by smiling crowds who held cellphones aloft from behind barriers as crews attached cables to the giant tree, pounded a stake into its base and guided it into place.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is lifted by a crane into place Saturday at Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
The lighting ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 4. It will take 5 miles of light strands with more than 50,000 multicolored LED bulbs to wrap the tree, whose diameter measures 43 feet. A Swarovski star crown sparkling with 3 million crystals will top it.
When it finally comes down in January, the tree will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
“The crowds were big today. They were one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever seen that come to a tree raising,” said Erik Pauze, head gardener at Rockefeller Center, who wore a candy cane-striped hard hat.
Once in its new home, the adjustments began to get it ready for the elaborate tree-trimming to come. “We stood it up, and now we’re going to lower some of the branches down by hand, because they’re so heavy and so big that we have to lower them down by hand,” he said.
A Norway spruce that will serve as this year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is cut down Thursday in West Stockbridge, Mass.
The towering conifer, donated by the Albert family in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, was cut down Thursday morning and loaded onto a flatbed truck for the 140-mile trip. It is the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree to come from Massachusetts since 1959.
Pauze, responsible for finding the tree and helping transport it, said he first spotted this green giant back in 2020.
“I saw the beautiful Norway Spruce as I drove down the road, and it was right in front of me,” he was quoted by Rockefeller Center’s newsletter as saying. “I knocked on the door and met Earl Albert. I asked if he would someday consider donating the Tree to Rockefeller Center. His answer was immediately yes.”
Shawn Albert, Earl Albert’s daughter-in-law, recalled that Pauze stopped by two days after Earl Albert’s wife, Lesley, died. She said her father-in-law immediately agreed to donate the tree, taking it as a sign from Lesley, who loved Christmas. The family decorated the tree each year with Christmas lights.
An employee touches the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree Saturday at Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
The family couldn’t have a funeral for Lesley Albert because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so Thursday’s event, which included carolers sending off the tree, was a way to remember her, the Alberts said.
“She was such a huge part of the community,” Shawn Albert said in a video of the event provided by Rockefeller Center. “To me, this is like her gathering that we finally get to have and we finally get to honor her.”
Michael Albert, Shawn’s husband and Lesley Albert’s son, recalled that his mother was a nurse, and a “giving person” so that sharing the tree with the community made sense.
“Let it go to New York City and let the world see it,” he said.
Workers pound a stake into the base of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree Saturday before it is lifted by a crane into place at Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
The towering spruce drew plenty of attention in West Stockbridge. Locals and tourist alike flocked to see the 11-ton tree in recent days, as workers high up in the canopy prepped it for its trip to New York.
On Thursday, several dozen people, some dressed as Santa Claus, watched from behind a barrier as workers felled the tree.
Michael and Tania Hardinger, tourists from Denmark, flew in to New York and made the drive north to see the tree last weekend, before it was cut down.
People watch the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree being lifted by a crane into place Saturday at Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
Hardinger said the trip was inspired by their love of Christmas, with the family having two and sometimes three Christmas trees in their house in Copenhagen. Both musicians, they planned to return to Denmark to play a few concerts before coming back to New York to do some Christmas shopping and visit the tree again, this time at Rockefeller Center.
“We’re big on Christmas and the Rockefeller tree is something we must see every year,” Hardinger said. “It’s so beautiful and it’s fantastic.”
A Christmas flower of many names
Lora Wade and her husband Jerry Wadel, back center, and her sister Valley Mobley, right, all members of the Mennonite Church, look at the display of different varieties of poinsettias at the Smithsonian's U.S. Botanical Garden, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Washington.
Visitors look at a replica of the U.S. Capitol adorned with different varieties of poinsettias on display at the Smithsonian's U.S. Botanical Garden, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Washington.
Visitors look at a replica of the U.S. Supreme Court adorned with different varieties of poinsettias on display at the Smithsonian's U.S. Botanical Garden, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Washington.
Visitors look at a replica of the U.S. Supreme Court adorned with different varieties of poinsettias on display at the Smithsonian's U.S. Botanical Garden, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Washington.
Visitors look at a replica of the U.S. Capitol adorned with different varieties of poinsettias on display at the Smithsonian's U.S. Botanical Garden, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Washington.
Visitors look at a replica of the U.S. Capitol adorned with different varieties of poinsettias on display at the Smithsonian's U.S. Botanical Garden, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Washington.
Visitors look at a replica of the Lincoln Memorial adorned with different varieties of poinsettias on display at the Smithsonian's U.S. Botanical Garden, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Washington.
Visitors look at a replica of the U.S. Supreme Court adorned with different varieties of poinsettias on display at the Smithsonian's U.S. Botanical Garden, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Washington.
