NEW YORK — The iconic Christmas tree Rockefeller Center has arrived in New York City, marking the start of the 2024 holiday season in the Big Apple.
The 75-foot-long, 11-ton Norway spruce was driven from Massachusetts Saturday morning and lifted into place by a crane in Midtown Manhattan.
Five miles of strings of lights with more than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights will wrap around the tree. A Swarovski star crown, sparkling with 3 million crystals, completes the look.
The lighting ceremony is scheduled for December 4.
2024 Christmas tree donated by the Massachusetts family
Yuki Iwamura / AP
The evergreen, donated by the Albert family in West Stockbridge, Massachusettswas cut down Thursday morning and loaded onto a flatbed truck for the 140-mile journey to New York.
The family said it was planted in 1967. It is also the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree from Massachusetts since 1959.
When the tree is cut down in January, the tree will be ground into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
Mark Prussia contributed to this report.
