NEW YORK — The iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has arrived in New York City, signaling the start of the 2024 holiday season in the Big Apple.
The 74-foot, 11-ton Norway Spruce was driven from Massachusetts and hoisted into place by a crane Saturday morning in Midtown Manhattan.
Five miles of light strands with more than 50,000 multicolored LED bulbs will be wrapped around the tree. A Swarovski star crown, sparkling with 3 million crystals, will top it.
The lighting ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 4.
2024 Christmas tree donated by Massachusetts family
Yuki Iwamura / AP
The evergreen, donated by the Albert family in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, was cut down Thursday morning and loaded onto a flatbed truck for the 140-mile trip to New York.
The family said it was planted in 1967. It’s also the first Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree from Massachusetts since 1959.
When it comes down in January, the tree will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
Mark Prussin
contributed to this report.
