Halloween may be days away, but New York City is already getting into the Christmas spirit. Rockefeller Center shared the first photo of this year’s Christmas tree for its famous holiday display Monday.
Organizers say the Norway Spruce has been selected from a farm in East Greenbush, New York, a suburb of Albany in Rensselaer County, about 150 miles north of New York City.
The massive tree will be cut down on Thursday, Nov. 6 and arrive at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan on Saturday, Nov. 8. It will then be adorned with more than 50,000 lights and topped with a Swarovski crystal star.
The annual tree lighting ceremony will be held the following month on Wednesday, Dec. 3, and the tree will remain on display until mid-January 2026. Once it’s taken down, organizers say it will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
The display will be located at 30 Rockefeller Center, between West 49th and West 50th streets in Midtown.
A holiday tradition in NYC
Last year’s tree came from a farm in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It was approximately 70 years old and 74 feet tall, and it was the first tree selected from Massachusetts since 1959.
The holiday tradition dates back to 1931 when a group of workers pooled their money to buy a 20-foot fall Christmas tree and decorated it with garland made by their families. Two years later, Rockefeller Center held its first official tree lighting.
