According to NBC4 New York, as the Rockefeller Building was being constructed in 1931, workers put up a 20-foot tree decorated with a garland made by their families. The first formal Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting was in 1933 and the tree lighting was first televised nationally in 1951.
The 2023 Rockefeller Christmas tree was cut down on Nov. 9 and arrived in the plaza on Nov. 11 where it was hoisted into place. The tree will be taken down in early January following NYC’s famous New Year’s Celebration.
NBC4 New York also stated that the lumber from the tree after it is taken down is milled and donated to Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps to build and improve homes across the country.
“The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree’s Swarovski star features 70 spikes covered in three million crystals. With a diameter stretching over nine feet, the star weighs approximately 900 pounds,” NBC4 New York said.
The star is lifted up by a crane and placed into a pipe inserted into the tree for stability. Brand new LED Lights are strung through the tree each year. Some of the bulbs are repurposed into ornaments for the following year by Rockefeller Center after the tree is taken down.
NBC4 New York reports that over five miles worth of lights are strung around the Rockefeller tree each year. In 2007, the lights were switched to 50,000 LED lights With over 50,000 lights illuminating the tree, a switch was made in 2007 to save around 2213kwH per day.
Standing at a hefty 80 feet tall and 43 feet wide, the 80-year-old Norway Spruce sourced from a family in Vestal, New York, will be this year’s Rockefeller Christmas Tree. Fans can nominate trees from their own property to be the next Rockefeller Christmas Tree, and Erik Pauze, head gardener at the Rockefeller Center will narrow the nominations down to find the perfect one.
According to NBC4 New York, Pauze begins preparing the selected tree long before it is cut down by feeding it compost and watering it. With this year’s warm weather, the tree was nourished with 800 to 1000 gallons of compost tea and water a week.
For six days, the branches on the tree are tied up before it is cut down by a chainsaw so that the tree is secure during transport. After the tree is cut down, a crane lowers it onto a flatbed truck where it is strapped down.
Moving an 80-foot tree into America’s biggest city is far from a walk in the park. In the past, NBC4 New York reported that Rockefeller Christmas Trees have arrived by land, air, and sea. In 1998, the world’s largest transport plane was used to fly the tree from Richfield, Ohio.
The route used to transport the tree into the Rockefeller Plaza depends on the size of the tree and the direction from which the tree has been taken from. Coordinators must be cautious of construction, and other roadblocks that might be encountered during the tree’s journey.
