The city got spruced up on Saturday!
The majestic Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was trucked into Midtown at around 7:40 a.m.
The 75-foot-tall, 45-foot-wide, 11-ton Norway spruce was cut down in upstate Oneonta. It’s between 75 and 80 years old.
They weren’t Santa’s helpers, but at 8 a.m. workers clad in yellow vests untied the spectacular spruce, which was suspended for more than an hour before being lowered. At around 9:20 a.m., the tree was lowered to the ground and pruned by five to six workers. Five minutes later, a spike was driven into the tree by workers and the family that owns the tree after a hard hat marked an X in the bottom of the stump.
By now, approximately 25 people had assembled on 50th Street behind the barricade and four to five others on 49th Street to catch a glimpse of what would normally be seen by many more.
Shortly after 10:30 a.m., the spruce was lifted via crane and moved above a six-foot square platform. Fifteen minutes later, the 75-foot tree was up and in place.
EB Kelly, managing director at Tishman Speyer, which owns Rockefeller Center, said it is “essential” that the Christmas tree tradition continues “albeit in a new manner thanks to COVID.
“While the tree and the iconic experience of ice skating under the tree will be as it has been in the past, we will have a series of new protocols of how you come see the tree. Managing crowds, making sure people are distanced, etc. It will be organized but joyful.”
The tree’s arrival marks the unofficial start of the holiday season, Kelly said, but due to COVID, “it didn’t seem appropriate to encourage a lot of people to come for today. So today, we will do the essential work that needs to get done, which is getting the tree in and up and starting to be decorated but without the groups. We hope that next year we will be able to continue that tradition of inviting New Yorkers to come and watch.”
The tree, donated by Al Dick, the owner of Daddy Al’s General Store in Oneonta, will be lit on Friday, Dec. 2.
“I’m still in awe that this was in my backyard a little while ago.” marveled Dick family member Paula White, 45, to The Post. “It’s amazing to think that this tree — which people went by every day and never took a second look at it — and now it’s the most beautiful tree in the world, standing and bringing hope to people that go by and see it,” she said.
Chris Ortiz, 26, who moved to Gotham from southern California just a few weeks ago stumbled upon the annual Christmas miracle.
“When you see it put up in previous years, you’re just like, ‘How did it get there?’ and to see it lying on the flatbed is really cool to see. I was at the right place at the right time.”
There will be no public access to the tree lighting in the plaza between 49th and 50th streets but NBC will air “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” a national broadcast of the 88th tree lighting ceremony.
Erik Pauze, head gardener at Rockefeller Center, has been selecting the holiday tree for 11 years. He first eyed the special spruce in 2016.
“It’s gotta be a perfect tree, the kind of tree you want in your living room,” he said. “It’s gotta be big, it’s gotta be the Christmas tree shape and when we set it up, it’s going to look beautiful.”
When the tree is decorated, it will feature more than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights strung on approximately 5 miles of wire. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind in 2018, the three dimensional Swarovski star weighs approximately 900 pounds and features 70 spikes covered in 3 million crystals, according to rockefellercenter.com.
Tree visiting hours will run daily from 6 a.m. to midnight. The tree will be lit for 24 hours on Christmas Day and from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, the website says.
"center" - Google News
November 14, 2020 at 09:50PM
https://ift.tt/3nnwnaR
Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrives in NYC - New York Post
"center" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bUHym8
https://ift.tt/2zR6ugj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrives in NYC - New York Post"
Post a Comment