What to Know
- The 75-foot tall, 12-plus ton Norway spruce comes from the home of Jason Perrin in State College, Pennsylvania
- The 75-foot tree will arrive in the Plaza on Saturday and be illuminated on live TV in a special on Wednesday, Nov. 29
- The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was put up in 1931 by workers building the complex during the Great Depression
Queue the Christmas songs: the 2017 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has been cut down and is being prepped to head to New York City this weekend.
The 75-foot tall, 12-plus ton Norway spruce comes from the home of Jason Perrin in State College, Pennsylvania. It was cut down Thursday morning before a horde of camera-ready spectators.
It will arrive at Rockefeller Center -- by flatbed, of course -- on Saturday.
The tree, 50 feet in diameter, will be the 86th to grace the Plaza for the annual weeks-long display and the third from Pennsylvania.
Erika Pauze, the head gardener for Rockefeller Center, said Thursday that she saw this year's tree while driving nearly seven years ago and was quick to ask if the owner was interested in making his backyard evergreen the most famous Christmas tree in the world.
"It's hard to find a tree that's nice and full that doesn't have any storm damage or is growing crooked or anything," she said.
After being adorned with more than 50,000 multi-colored lights and crowned with the iconic Swarovski star, the tree will be illuminated for the first time during a live television broadcast on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
Local
It'll be on display until Jan. 7, 2018.
Last year's tree, a 94-foot Norway spruce from Angie and Graig Eichler in Oneonta, was the second largest ever chosen for the holiday celebration.
The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was put up in 1931 by workers building the complex during the Great Depression. The first official tree lighting was in 1933.
