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 will take five miles (about 8 kilometers) of light strands with more than 50,000 multicolored LED bulbs to wrap the tree, whose diameter measures 43 feet (13 meters).
A Swarovski star crown sparkling with 3 million crystals will top it.
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 (225-kilometer) trip.
It is the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree to come from Massachusetts since 1959.
Erik Pauze, the head gardener for Rockefeller Center 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, had 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.
The family couldn’t have a funeral for Lesley Albert because of the 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.
The lighting ceremony in Manhattan is scheduled for December 4.
When it finally comes down in January, the tree will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
