Rockefeller at Christmas!

So yes- the whole Rockefeller Tree has been overdone and it’s literally almost too late to put up a post about it- but it ain’t Christmas yet so you just got lucky- some fun facts and a few pics I clicked early this week!

I first saw the tree at Christmas 2010 and did the touristy thing including clicking a picture in front of it. This year however, after reading up on its history, I concluded that the tree deserved a post of its own so here goes…

For those who don’t know, the Rockefeller Tree is a long standing tradition of New York City, first unofficially erected in 1931 by construction workers who were so ecstatic to have jobs during the great depression that they put up a 20 foot tree and decorated it with garlands, cranberries and tins.

The first official tree was a 50 foot pine tree put up 2 years later and decked out in 700 lights- imagine that. The tree we see today has about 45,000 led lights- Yes you that read right…Forty Five Thousand. The lights are however powered by solar panels located at the top of One Rockefeller Center. The lights are on all day from early morning up until 23:30. It stays on for 24 hours straight on Christmas Day.

And the star atop the tree.. Let’s not even talk about that. Its consists of 25,000 (By now you probably are bogged down by the numbers) Swarovski crystals with 720 LED bulbs and weighs 550 pounds. I just read that it probably costs approximately 1.5 million USD.

This years tree is a 90 year old, 85 foot tree and in my opinion, has way too many lights. Looks beautiful as always though.

The majestic tree, the angels and the crowded ice rink- a must do in the city!

Whilst we were there, a guy rented out the skating rink for a few minutes and proposed to his girlfriend! That was oh so beautiful, renting out the most famous ice skating rink in the world to propose. The crowd cheered when she said yes and they skated off into eternity!

I Do !!!

The light and sound show every 7 minutes on the Saks Fifth Ave building!and he looks almost real, doesn’t he?

And the streets leading up to Rockefeller were all decorated- given that Radiocity is a 3 minute walk away.. I obviously have some pictures for you!

Radio City with busy city streets

The Chase Building

So if you are planning a trip to New York City, grit your teeth, brace yourself for the cold, live with every cliche – but come at Christmas! You will absolutely love it!

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