QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Every year, Rockefeller Center in New York City welcomes one of the country’s greatest trees to stand vigil for Christmas. This year, the tree is a North Country local.
On Tuesday, Rockefeller Center announced that this year’s Christmas Tree would be coming from Queensbury. The tree in question is a Norway Spruce, donated by the Lebowitz family, who live in Glens Falls. It will be cut on Nov. 10, and make its voyage south on Nov. 12.
“Queensbury is very proud to host the tree that will go to Rockefeller Plaza,” said Queensbury Town Supervisor John Strough. “It will give me another reason to visit New York City this year and see the tree.”
Tree stats
- Species: Norway Spruce
- Height: 82 feet (25 meters)
- Diameter: 50 feet (15.24 meters)
- Weight: Approx. 14 tons
- Age: Approx: 85-90 years old
Once it arrives at Rockefeller Center, the tree will be decorated with over 50,000 LED Christmas lights, spanning around 5 miles of wire. The star topping the tree will be the same one that has sat atop the annual center tree since 2018 – a 900-pound Swarovski star designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, 9 feet in diameter and featuring 70 crystal spikes.
The tree lighting will be held in Rockefeller Center on Nov. 30. Once the holiday season has come and gone, the tree will be milled into lumber that will support Habitat for Humanity projects.
In Queensbury, the tree reminds the town’s leader of a time when another significant local tree was put in the national spotlight. As a SUNY Adirondack student in 1969, Strough and others at the student senate protected a Glens Falls tree that was set to go to the White House.
“We camped out day and night to make sure nobody bothered the tree. The one disappointing part was when they took the tree, they took it to the White House, and the President said, ‘We would like to thank the people of Warren County, Ohio.'”
The Rockefeller Center tree tradition started in 1931, when workers put up the first tree. The first formal lighting ceremony was held in 1933, with over 700 lights illuminating the then-new RCA building. Variations over the decades have included years with multiple trees; decorations in support of soldiers during World War II; and the adoption of LED lights starting in 2007.
