This Year’s Rockefeller Center Tree Is a Native New Yorker
Every holiday season, one ordinary tree becomes iconic as it transforms Midtown Manhattan into something magical.
This year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree truly embodies the New York spirit! The 75-foot-tall Norway spruce, a native New Yorker hails from East Greenbush, New York, and like so many of us, has a story rooted in family and tradition.
Donated by the Russ family, the tree has been part of their property for over 60 years. The Russ family, who have cared for the tree on their property for more than 60 years, donated it after it became the backdrop for decades of family celebrations.
“I’m excited to make more cherished memories with my family and childhood friends as it becomes the world’s Christmas tree,” says Judy Russ, who lives in the historic family home with her 7-year-old son, Liam.
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The tree, estimated to be about 75 years old, will be cut on November 6 and then make the 130-mile journey to Rockefeller Center. Once it arrives on November 8, crews will carefully raise it into place on Center Plaza. For many New Yorkers, this marks the start of one of the most famous holiday traditions.
How the Tree Was Chosen
Rockefeller Center head gardener Erik Pauze has been the one choosing the world’s most famous Christmas tree for over 30 years. With an eye for detail and a lifelong love of trees, he spends the year scouting potential candidates across the Northeast, from New York to Massachusetts.
“What I look for is a tree you’d want in your living room, but on a grander scale,” Pauze says. He discovered the Russ family’s spruce after a Rockefeller Center security supervisor shared a photo. “As soon as I saw it, I knew it was perfect,” he said. Pauze even returned several times throughout the year to personally water and tend to the tree before its big debut.
This year’s tree will be topped with the 900-pound Swarovski star designed by Daniel Libeskind in 2018—a nine-foot, 70-spike crystal structure that casts the glow of five miles of lights across Midtown.
After the Holidays, the Tree Gets a Second Life
When the holiday season wraps up in mid-January, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree gets a second life. Since 2007, the lumber from each tree has been donated to Habitat for Humanity, where it’s used to build homes across the country. The Norway spruce’s strong, flexible wood makes it ideal for flooring, framing, and furniture.
After the tree is taken down, it’s sent to a mill in New Jersey to be cut and dried before being shipped to a Habitat affiliate, often in the same region where it was grown. Over the years, beams from Rockefeller Center trees have helped build homes in places like Connecticut, Philadelphia, and even back in their original hometowns.
Rockefeller Center’s tree lighting ceremony will take place on Wednesday, December 3, from 7–10 pm.
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