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The giant Norway spruce, which this year hails from a tiny
Massachusetts town, is also topped with a Swarovski star crown
featuring 3 million crystals.
The 74-foot-high (23-meter-high) tree was cut down last month in
West Stockbridge and trucked to Rockefeller Plaza. Wednesday
night's ceremony marked the culmination of the tree's long
journey to New York, which began in 2020 when the center's head
gardener spotted the tree and asked its owners if they'd
consider donating it.
The famous holiday attraction, located above the Rockefeller
Center ice skating rink, will be on view through mid-January. On
Christmas Day, the tree will be lit for 24 hours.
Once the holiday season is over, the tree will be used for
lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
Security was stepped up for the annual tree-lighting ceremony
after a gunman on Wednesday morning killed UnitedHealthcare’s
CEO outside a midtown Manhattan hotel about five blocks from
Rockefeller Center. Chief of Department Jeffrey B. Maddrey said
earlier in the day there would be “massive presence" of police,
including additional officers in the subway.
“This is a terrible event, but people are going to go on and
enjoy the tree lighting tonight,” he said.
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