NEW YORK — The Christmas season is coming to a close in New York City and New Yorkers and visitors have until Saturday, January 14 to see the world’s most famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree as it falls on this day at 10:00 a.m. pm the tree will be shut down and the removal process will begin.
The Christmas tree, an 82-foot-tall, 50-foot-wide, 14-ton Norwegian spruce from Queensbury, New York, believed to be between 85 and 90 years old, it was lit on November 30, 2022 to kick off the Christmas season. Now, in just over a month, he will say goodbye to the Big Apple. This was donated by the Lebowitz family of Glen Falls and traveled approximately 200 miles to reach its destination on November 12th.
More than 50,000 LED lights illuminate the tree which was crowned with a Swarovski crystal star and the magic began that day in the Rockefeller Center plaza and for all who enjoyed a unique and festive ceremony from their homes. Each of them began to fill himself with good wishes.
“May my grandparents be in excellent health and my whole family protected,” said Esteban de La Cruz, who was at the scene.
The three-dimensional Swarovski star, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind in 2018, weighs approximately 900 pounds and features 70 points capped with 3 million crystals. The diameter of the star is 9 feet 4 inches.
The ceremony was filled with musical performances of Christmas classics with the voices of Gwen Stefani, Andrea Bocelli, Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, Jimmie Allen, Matteo Bocelli and Virginia Bocelli, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Brett Eldredge, Mickey Guyton, the Muppets by Sesame Street, Dan + Shay, The Shindellas, Louis York and many more.
Now the tree will be cut down and transformed into wood to be donated to Habitat for Humanity.
What is the history of tree lighting?
For more than eight decades, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has served as a Christmas beacon for New Yorkers and visitors alike. While the lights, decorations, and stars have changed over the years, visiting the tree remains a quintessential NYC experience.
- December 1931: Rockefeller Center workers pooled their money to buy a Christmas tree. The men decorated the 20-foot-tall balsam fir with wreaths handcrafted by their families.
- December 1933: Rockefeller Center decided to make the Christmas tree an annual tradition and held its first ever tree lighting ceremony.
- December 1936: Two trees were erected at Rockefeller Center and a skating competition was held at the newly opened ice rink in the Plaza.
- December 1942: World War II ushered in an era of simple, patriotic designs, including dull red, white, and blue balloons and painted wooden stars. In 1942, no materials essential to the war effort were used to decorate Rockefeller Center, and three more modest trees were erected instead of one large tree. From 1942 until the end of the war the tree was not lit every year due to blackout regulations.
- November 1951: Santa and his friends watch as the tree rises.
- December 1955: In the 1950s, workers began using the scaffolding to decorate the trees. Before the end of the decade, the process had grown to require 20 men and a period of nine days.
- December 1969: Sculptor Valerie Clarebout’s impressive and triumphant wire angel figures made their debut at Channel Gardens. She created the 12 sculptures using 75 wire spikes each. Clarebout passed away in 1982 at the age of 74, but her legacy lives on in her beautiful gift to the City of New York.
- November 1997: Tree sailed up the Hudson River on a barge from his home in Stony Point, New York.
- November 1998: A tree from Richfield, Ohio was flown to New York City on the world’s largest cargo plane, the Anatov An-124 Ruslan.
- December 1999: Christmas 1999 featured the largest tree in Rockefeller Center’s history. Hailing from Killingworth, Connecticut, the tree stood 100 feet tall.
- December 2001: After the tragedies of September 11, 2001, the Tree was decorated in a patriotic red, white and blue. People from all over the world have visited the Plaza to view the tree.
- December 2004: The first 550-pound Swarovski star graced the top of the tree in 2004. It had 25,000 crystals and 1 million facets and was 9.5 feet in diameter. The following year, the addition of LED lights made the star appear to radiate light from the center out to the tips.
- December 2018: A new Swarovski star, designed by the famous architect Daniel Libeskind, graced the 22m high Christmas tree. The 9-foot, 4-inch LED backlit topper features 3 million dazzling Swarovski crystals in 70 triangular prongs.
Where can I find more information?
more meInformation on the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree can be found here.
