The giant evergreen tree that lights up Rockefeller Plaza every holiday season arrived in New York City late on the night of November 5, 2015.
The tree, a 78-foot-tall Norway spruce, made its way down Columbus Avenue accompanied by a police escort, and was erected over Rockefeller Center Friday morning. Weighing in at 10 tons, the tree was cut from Albert Asendorf’s home in Ulster County, according to a report by TODAY.
"It kind of took over the whole yard. So then I looked around and found out that Rockefeller Center might want the tree," he told TODAY, deciding last year that the 80-year-old tree had outgrown his property.
A photo posted by Rockefeller Center (@rockcenternyc) on
Currently, the tree is fenced off as dozens of spectators snap photos of the arrangement process. The tree will be illuminated by 45,000 multicolored LED lights and will be topped with Swarovski Star for the twelfth year in a row in the tree-lighting ceremony.
Forty-nine-year-old New York City native Jack told LittleThings that he tries to attend the ritual every year.
“It’s simply tradition,” he said as he snapped photos of the tree setup.
The tree-lighting ceremony is on Wednesday, December 2, and is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis. Each year, tens of thousands crowd the sidewalks to watch the tradition, which will be broadcast from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST the night of.
Head to Rockefeller Plaza, between West 48th and 51st Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues, to see the tree in all its glory, and be sure to SHARE these photos of the tree’s first day in the city!
