NYC's holiday season begins! Rockefeller Center Christmas tree - a 12 ton, 79-foot-tall Norway spruce - safely arrives in the city from Maryland
The holiday season has officially begun in New York City with the arrival of this year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree from Maryland.
This year's tree is a 79-foot-tall Norway spruce from the small town of Elkton, Maryland. It is 46-feet in diameter and weighs 12 tons.
The tree was driven nearly 150 miles on a 115-foot-long tractor trailer.
This 79-foot-long tree is the first from the state of Maryland to be featured at Rockefeller Center for the holiday season.
The official lighting ceremony is set for December 1 and the tree will be wrapped with more than 50,000 multi-colored lights and topped with a 900lbs Swarovski star with 70 spikes and 3 million crystals.
The tree is set to be on display in Rockefeller Plaza until January 16, 2022.
Onlookers watch the Christmas tree being installed at the Rockefeller Center on Saturday
Workers pull on guide ropes to raise this year's Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center
The 2021 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrived into NYC from Elkton, Maryland on Saturday
This year's tree is a 79-foot-tall Norway spruce which is 46-feet in diameter and weighs 12 tons
The tree was transported nearly 150 miles on a 115-foot tractor trailer
It had been cut down from the Elkton site on November 11 and arrived into the city two days later.
The delivery of the tree, however, proved not to be as easy as it appeared.
'We need New Jersey permits to bring it up on the turnpike, it stays overnight by the Meadowlands,' New York Truck Escorts and Permits President Maureen Mandich told ABC13. 'We need Maryland and Delaware permits for it to travel because it's an oversized load.
'It has to have special permits, special escorts, police escort, obviously, for security reasons and just to get it here safe.'
The Rockefeller Center had posted a picture of the tree on November 4 through their Twitter page with the caption 'Meet the 2021 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree!'
This year's tree will be the 90th featured at Rockefeller Center as it has been a holiday tradition since 1931.
The first tree, which stood at only 20 feet, was a balsam fir that was decorated with paper garlands, a string of cranberries and only a few ornaments.
Construction workers line up for pay beside the first Rockefeller Center tree in 1931
The 1946 tree is seen being lifted to the Rockefeller Center site
The installation of the 1951 tree which was the first broadcast on television
The tallest tree in Rockefeller Center history was a 100-foot-tall tree from Killington, Connecticut in 1999
The 2017 tree was the first to use energy efficient LED lights that were powered by 100 solar panels
Since its conception, trees have been scouted throughout the northeastern United States, with one coming from as far as Canada.
The first broadcast of the tree lighting was in 1951 and will be featured on TV for the 70th time this year.
The largest tree featured at Rockefeller Center was a 100-foot-tall tree from Killington, Connecticut that was on display for the 1999 holiday season.
In 2017, energy efficient LED lights powered by 100 solar panels were used for the ceremony for the first time in history, according to AccuWeather.
This year's upcoming tree lighting comes after the 2020 ceremony which received criticism for featuring a 'skimpy' selection.
The 75-foot-tall tree, also a Norway Spruce, was brought in from Oneonta, New York.
Many mocked the appearance as they believed it had reflected 2020 which had been plagued by the effects of the pandemic.
After adding some extensions and quality lighting, however, it looked as good as ever and helped to bring a bit of joy into the end of a long year.
The Rockefeller Christmas tree will be lit from 6am to midnight every day following the ceremony.
The tree will also be lit for 24 hours on Christmas Day and from 6am to 9pm on New Year's Eve.
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