The holiday season is upon us already, and New York's Rockefeller Center is getting ready for its annual Christmas tree lighting tonight. Here are a few facts about the city's most iconic Christmas celebration:
1. It's big
This year's tree, a Norway spruce harvested from Putnam County, N.Y., measures 74 feet. The tallest Rockefeller tree was 100 feet, in 1999. Still, Manhattan isn't the best place for truly gigantic trees -- in 2007, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, played host to a 161-foot-tall Christmas tree.
Jason DeCrow, AP
The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree stands lit during the 78th annual lighting ceremony on Tuesday in New York.
2. It's local
Norway spruces thrive in the suburbs surrounding New York City, and so there's no need to truck in trees from far-flung places like the Pacific Northwest, though trees have been brought in from as far as Ottawa, Canada. Rockefeller Center scouts patrol the surrounding areas all year long looking for candidates and trying to convince potential donors to part with their precious trees.
3. It's bright
It takes five miles of wiring and 15,000 lights to create the spectacle. About 2.5 million people come every year to look at the tree.
4. It's green(ish)
While environmentalists are rarely fond of chopping down giant trees and covering them with thousands of bright lights, Rockefeller Center has taken steps to reduce the energy impact of its tree. In 2007, it installed solar panels on the roof to power the light-emitting diodes that brighten the tree.
The tree itself is also green, in the literal sense.
5. It's dying
"I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot," said Jack London, and that credo applies to the Rockefeller Center tree. The selection of one of these ancient trees is the first step toward death by holiday cheer: A few weeks after the lighting ceremony, the briefly famous tree ends up as mulch.
Read More at The New York Times
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