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Holidays in New York are confusing. By the time Halloween arrives, autumnal Thanksgiving decorations are going up around the city. And when New Yorkers start making plans to avoid their families for turkey day, they have to contend with giant Christmas trees rolling into town.
And she's a giant, indeed. This year's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree—a Norway Spruce—stacks up at 75 feet and weighs between 12 and 13 tons. The tree was cut down on Thursday in Pennsylvania, and arrives at Rockefeller Center on Saturday, where it will be lit with five miles-worth of LED lights (that's 45,000 to be exact) and a 9.5-foot Swarovski star decked out in 25,000 crystals with one million facets.
AMNY reports that Rockefeller Center's head gardener Erik Pauze has been eyeing this year's 80 year-old Spruce since 2010, and that after a little more growth over the years, it's finally ready for center stage.
The tree lights up at the glitzy official tree lighting ceremony on November 29 at 7pm, and stays illuminated until January 7. After completing its term in NYC, it will be donated to be used as lumber by Habitat for Humanity.
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