The holiday season is officially upon us, with the 2022 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lit up in all its glory!
The 50-foot wide, 14-ton tree was brought down to NYC from Queensbury, New York, on a flatbed truck where it was erected at Rockefeller Center on Nov. 14. The tree, believed to be about 85 to 90 years old, was donated by the Lebowitz family of Glen Falls.
Once it completed the roughly 200-mile trek to Manhattan, teams unfolded and hoisted this year's 82-foot tall Norway Spruce into place. It was lit up on Nov. 30, and will be lit every day throughout the holiday season.
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The tree has more than 50,000 LED lights on five miles of wire and is topped with a Swarovski crystal star. The three-dimensional Swarovski star, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind in 2018, weighs about 900 pounds and features 70 spikes covered in 3 million crystals. The star's diameter is 9 feet, 4 inches.
Street Closures
For the rest of the holiday season, 49th Street and 50th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues will be closed to vehicular traffic every day from 11 a.m. to midnight.
That ban will be in effect though early January.
For the first time ever, the world famous Fifth Avenue — complete with the holiday light shows and displays that tourists flock to each year — will be closed for pedestrian use only on Sundays in December. The avenue will not be available to cars between 48th Street and 57th Street on Dec. 4, 11 and 18.
The streets will be closed between noon and 6 p.m. on those days.
When and Where Can I View the Tree?
For those looking to come to 30 Rockefeller Plaza to see the tree, expect some crowds, especially depending on the day and timing of your visit. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are always popular days for people to come visit, and weekends are typically more crowded as well.
Mornings are generally the best times to see the tree, with the fewest people around. Crowds start to gather by the afternoon and evenings, though spectators will be able to get a good view of it pretty much no matter what day or time they decide to come.
It is free to come see the tree, with no tickets or reservations required.
The lights on the tree will be lit everyday from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. On Christmas Day, the tree stays on for 24 hours.
It has not yet been announced when the tree will be taken down. However, whenever it does come down, the tree will be taken down and milled into lumber that is donated to Habitat for Humanity.
