MIDTOWN, Manhattan (PIX11) — This year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree finally made its way to Manhattan Saturday morning.
Crane crews lugged the massive Norway Spruce to Rockefeller Plaza after its overnight, three-hour, 200-mile journey from Queensbury, New York, a town just south of Lake George. The chief gardener from Tishman Speyer searches every year for the perfect tree to stand tall over The Rink at Rockefeller Center.
It has always been a festive occasion for New Yorkers to watch the spike being driven into the hulking trunk and then suspended in mid-air before being positioned into place.
The 14-tonner was cut down Thursday in Queensbury. The tree, which stands at 82 feet and is 50 feet wide, was donated by the Lebowitz family of Glens Falls, New York. The family has the honor of being the proud benefactors of the 90-year-old beauty, who will be speaking about their gift to the city Saturday morning.
It will take around two and a half weeks to trim and adorn the tree with 50,000 multi-colored, energy-efficient LED lights and to crown it with a Swarovski star before the ceremonious and festive tree lighting on Nov. 30, which comes a bit earlier this year.
It will be on display until mid-January. It will then be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
Last year’s tree came from Maryland. The first-ever Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was erected in 1931.
