This year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree hails from upstate NY
Photo courtesy of Tishman Speyer
The towering spruce that will serve as this year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, standing at the heart of New York City’s holiday celebrations, has been revealed. Found upstate in East Greenbush, the 75-foot-tall tree will be cut down on Thursday, November 6, and make its journey to Manhattan, arriving on Saturday, November 8. After it’s adorned with tens of thousands of twinkling lights and crowned with its iconic Swarovski star, the annual tree lighting ceremony will take place on Wednesday, December 3.
Donated by the Russ family, the tree measures 45 feet wide, weighs approximately 11 tons, and is about 75 years old. Rockefeller Center’s head gardener, Erik Pauze, who has chosen and transported the iconic tree for over 30 years, discovered the tree.
Each tree chosen for Rockefeller Center is typically at its maximum height and has outgrown the property where it resides. Most trees selected are Norway Spruce, prized for their impressive size and sturdy branches that can hold holiday lights, Pauze explained in an interview with The Center Magazine, run by Rockefeller Center, as 6sqft previously reported.
After arriving in Midtown, the tree is decorated with more than 50,000 multicolored, energy-efficient LED lights spanning five miles of wire, and topped with its famous 900-pound Swarovski star, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind in 2018. After the holiday season, the tree will be milled into lumber and donated to Habitat for Humanity.
The tree lighting ceremony has been a cherished New York City holiday tradition since 1933 and has aired live on television since 1951.
On November 8, Rockefeller Center will host “Meet the Tree Day 2025,” giving families and friends a chance to see the tree’s arrival on the plaza. A full lineup of festive programming will add to the excitement, including a themed activity workshop hosted by FAO and Peanuts, an “art sundae” station, and a celebration at Top of the Rock. Guests can also meet Santa at Under 30 Rock and revel in the holiday cheer. You can RSVP here.
Additionally, another familiar fixture of Rockefeller Center is getting a makeover just in time for the holidays. Prometheus, the gilded statue in the center’s lower plaza behind the ice-skating rink, is being covered in 23¾-karat gold.
The iconic 18-foot-tall sculpture is undergoing a meticulous restoration, with 20,000 sheets of gold leaf applied to its surface, as reported by the New York Times.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will remain on display through mid-January 2025. It will be lit for 24 hours on Christmas Day and from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
The Rink at Rockefeller Center is now open for the season, welcoming skaters daily from 9 a.m. to midnight. Tickets start at $22 and can be purchased here.
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