NYC's Rockefeller tree to become lumber for homes

[January 10, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City's most eminent Christmas tree is heading to the afterlife -- as lumber for new homes.

The eight-ton, 72-foot Rockefeller Center tree is set to be milled Saturday into lumber and dried in a kiln for use in the construction of Habitat for Humanity homes in Brooklyn.

This isn't the first time that the Rockefeller Center tree has been reused to build homes. The 2007 tree was also transformed into lumber to help build housing for Hurricane Katrina survivors.

Past trees also have been used to make toys for animals in the Bronx Zoo and as mulch for hiking trails.

Workers building the Rockefeller Center began putting up Christmas trees in 1931 during the Great Depression.

[Associated Press]

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