The Tree at Rockefeller Center

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The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center photographed in December 1987. The Christmas tree that year was a 75 ft (23m) high Norway Spruce, decorated with 18,000 lights.

The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center is an annual tradition in New York City's Rockefeller Center, and is lighted in early December or late-November, an event broadcast in recent years on the NBC television network in the United States as well as internationally.^[1] The tree, usually a Norway spruce 75 to 90 feet (23 to 27 m) tall, has been put up every year since 1931.^[2] In 2008, the tree was lit on December 3 and remained illuminated until January 9, 2009.^[1]

David Murbach, Mgr. of the Gardens Division of Rockefeller Center, scouts in a helicopter for the desired tree in areas including Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, New Jersey, and even Ottawa, Canada.^[3] Once a suitable tree is located, a crane supports it while it is cut, and moves it to a custom telescoping trailer that can transport trees up to 125 feet (38 m) tall.

Once at the Rockefeller Center, the tree is supported by four guy wires attached at its midpoint, and by a steel spike at its base. Scaffolding is put up around the tree to assist workers in putting up 30,000 lights attached to 5 miles (8 km) of wiring.
The star that has topped the tree since 2004 is 9.5 feet (3 m) in diameter and weighs 550 pounds (249.5 kg). This "Swarovski Star" was created by the German artist Michael Hammers. ^[4]

The tradition began during the Depression-era construction of Rockefeller Center, when workers decorated a small balsam fir tree with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans", as recounted by Daniel Okrent in his history of Rockefeller Center.^[5]

The decorated Christmas tree remains lit at Rockefeller Center until the week after New Year's Day, when it is removed and recycled for a variety of uses. In 2007, the tree went "green," employing LED lights.^[6] After being taken down, the tree was used to furnish lumber for Habitat for Humanity house construction.^[7]