Rock Center Christmas Tree
From left: First Rockefeller Center tree, 1931; 2019 tree with 30 Rock in the background.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS from all of us at NYC URBANISM!
The city's most famous Christmas tree –in Rockefeller Center – was first raised by construction workers on the cleared site in 1931, starting the famous tradition that continues today.
Rockefeller Center accepts submissions for the perfect Norway Spruce every year, searching for a dense tree at least 75-feet tall with the right shape. This year's tree comes from the upstate town of Florida, NY and is 77 feet tall, wrapped in over 50,000 lights. The Daniel Libeskind-designed #Swarovski crystal on top of the tree is made up of 70 triangular spikes covered in three million crystals. The 900-pound tree topper is over 9 feet in diameter.
The tallest tree ever was 100 feet tall, in 1999. Once the tree comes down it's used as lumber to build houses for Habitat for Humanity.
On average 750,000 people visit the tree daily during the holiday season!
