Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a spruce set up each year on the plaza in front of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, standing between 75 and 100 feet (about 23 to 30 meters) tall. Around 50,000 LED lights hang from its branches and a crystal star sits at the top, glowing above the plaza at night.

Workers set up a small evergreen during construction of Rockefeller Center in 1931 and decorated it with garlands and berries. Since that year, a new tree has been erected on the plaza each season and the tradition has grown into a nationwide event.

The Christmas tree arrives each year from a different location across the region and becomes the center point of one of the busiest public spaces in New York for about six weeks. Families and tourists gather in front of the lit evergreen, which stands beside the ice rink and turns the plaza into a winter scene.

The lights turn on each evening from late November through early January and can be seen from several sides of the plaza. The area around the tree can be crowded, especially on weekends and holidays, so visiting on weekday mornings or late evenings helps avoid the largest groups.

After the season ends, the wood from the tree is turned into building material for Habitat for Humanity housing projects. The trunk and branches are cut, dried, and distributed to construction sites across the United States, where they are used in the building of homes for families.