Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree arrives in New York City
It’s officially the most wonderful time of the year at Rockefeller Center.
This holiday season’s most famous Christmas tree arrived Saturday morning, having completed the 150-mile journey to Midtown Manhattan from just outside of Albany.
The 75-foot, 11-foot Norway Spruce was delivered to 30 Rockefeller Plaza by flatbed truck and hoisted into place for all to see, as onlookers lined the streets to help usher in the holiday season.
Also in attendance was the Russ family of East Greenbush, New York, who donated the tree after it stood on their family’s property for generations.
“What an incredible feeling of just joy,” Judy Russ said. “I’m so happy. I’m so thrilled that we get to share our tree with the world.”
The world will get its first official look during the tree-lighting ceremony, which will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 3 on NBC and Peacock. In preparation, the tree will soon be surrounded by scaffolding so crews can wrap it in 50,000 lights and top it with a 900-pound star for its shining moment.
Russ, 37, after visiting Rockefeller Center last holiday season with her son Liam, submitted the tree for consideration to honor her late husband Dan Russ, who died at the age of 32 in 2020.
Dan Russ’ great-grandparents Edward and Mattie May Doran, purchased their property over a century ago and planted the tree decades later. After Judy and Dan moved into the house in 2017, they’d joke about renting a crane to decorate it for Christmas, or perhaps even having it one day be the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
“When we decided maybe we should rent a crane to decorate it is when we realized this is more than just your typical tree in a yard, that this really could be something special,” Russ told NBC Local on Saturday after her tree was in place. “My son and I came down last year just to visit it, and I was like, ‘You know, I have a tree similar to that in my backyard.’ So, that kind of sparked it.”
Her friend’s father, a former Rockefeller Center security supervisor, texted a picture of the tree to Rockefeller Center’s head gardener Erik Pauze, who has selected the tree each holiday season for the last 30-plus years.
“I got a text of a picture from an old buddy of mine who I used to work with at Rockefeller Center,” Pauze told NBC Local. “I said, ‘Where’s that?’ and when he told me, I said, ‘Wow! I’m pretty close. I’ll be there tomorrow.’”
He was there again Thursday, and this time he brought the tree back to New York City with him. The tree — which stood next to the garage on the family property and served as a jungle gym for seven-year-old Liam — was wrapped, cut down by chainsaw and lowered onto a flatbed truck.
Pauze rode in the truck’s passenger seat as the tree made its way over the bridge, into Manhattan, and down 49th Street to its new holiday home.
“It became a perfect tree to be in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza,” Pauze said. “And it became a tree from a family generational property. So, it’s a good way to remember their family, as well, and that’s one of the reasons they wanted to donate the tree.”
The Russ family received a sign of approval from above while the tree was being cut down, as a bald eagle flew nearby.
“My husband was an avid bird nerd, and I mean that in the best way possible,” Judy Russ said. “So, if there ever was a way to make it feel like he was there with us, that would for sure be it, because it is rare to see bald eagles where we are. So, that was incredible.”
Judy Russ — who grew up in Queens, New York — and Liam were standing nearby Saturday when the truck made a sharp right turn into the plaza outside 30 Rock. Liam then helped carry out the annual tradition of having tree donors use a sledgehammer to drive a spike into the center of the tree’s trunk before it’s positioned into place on its stand.
“He kept saying over and over again, this is the best day of his life,” Judy Russ said of her son.
The family will return for the lighting in December. That’s when the tree that stood in on their family’s property for six decades will become the ultimate symbol of Christmas spirit in honor of Dan Russ and his ancestors who lived beneath it for many years.
“He would be equally as happy,” Judy Russ said of her husband. “He’s so proud of his family, he’s so proud of his property, he’s so proud of our town East Greenbush, that to put his on the world scale would really make his day.”
