{"id":60453,"date":"2025-12-04T05:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/60453\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T05:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:38:10","slug":"rockefeller-center-christmas-tree-lights-up-to-start-holiday-season-as-nyers-tourists-brave-the-cold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/60453\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights up to start holiday season as NYers, tourists brave the cold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Locals and tourists from across the world braved the crowds and the cold on Wednesday, waiting hours in line to catch a glimpse of\u00a0the iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas tree\u00a0<\/a>light up for the holiday season.<\/p>\n

The 75-foot-tall Norway Spruce from a backyard in Rensselaer County, New York was illuminated in a spectacle of 50,000 stunning colored lights around 10 p.m. in the bustling Midtown hub.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since I saw Home Alone [2], I\u2019ve wanted to see the Rockefeller Tree,\u201d said Sharon Harvey, who trekked from the United Kingdom to watch the lighting ceremony as a 60th birthday present from her sister, Hannah.<\/p>\n

The Christmas tree is lit during the 2025 Rockefeller Center tree lighting on Wednesday night. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York during Christmas is magical,\u201d Harvey told The Post.<\/p>\n

She and her sister had been waiting in line since 3:30 p.m. to get a glimpse of the iconic ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really lucky to have this relationship,\u201d Harvey reflected.<\/p>\n

Patricia Procobio and her best friend traveled from Richmond, Virginia, and arrived around 2 p.m. to be first in line for the tree lighting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of my bucket list things,\u201d Procobio said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the 100th anniversary of the lighting of the tree. I said, \u2018I have to go!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Procobio promised her best friend that they could go shopping and to the restaurant Tavern on the Green in Central Park while visiting the Big Apple, \u201cbut today is my day. I\u2019m only here to see the tree, all the other things are extras,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Reba McEntire and actress Kristin Chenoweth perform during the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting in New York on December 3, 2025. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

New Yorkers and tourists alike braved the cold on Wednesday night to see the tree lit up. AP<\/p>\n

Legendary R&B group New Edition performs at the tree lighting on Wednesday night. Andrew H. Walker\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Jessica Howell, 33, was visiting the Big Apple for the first time with her pal, Michele Bullock, 46.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Christmas. I grew up watching the tree lighting on TV, and we just decided to come see it in person. Last year I watched it on TV and this year we are here,\u201d Howell, of Knoxville, Tennessee, said.<\/p>\n

Katie Demarco also came out to see the lit spruce with her five-year-old daughter, husband, and her mother-in-law all the way from Colombia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s iconic. This is Christmas in New York!\u201d Demarco said.<\/p>\n

Laufey performs during the 93rd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in New York. AP<\/p>\n

Marc Anthony performs during the 2025 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 3, 2025. REUTERS<\/p>\n

People on line to see the 93rd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in New York. AP<\/p>\n

People look out of the window during the 93rd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony. AP<\/p>\n

The tree was put into place on Nov. 8\u00a0 with help from Judy Russ and her 7-year-old son, Liam.<\/p>\n

Just two days earlier, the spruce had been growing in the backyard of their upstate New York home.<\/p>\n

The magnificent tree for this year\u2019s festivities was donated in honor of her husband, Dan, who died in 2020 at the age of 32.<\/p>\n

The tree stood on the family\u2019s East Greenbush property for 75 years and reached such astounding heights that Dan even dreamed about it one day becoming the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.<\/p>\n

NYPD Community Affairs also hosted 129 students, staff, and families from special needs schools for the deaf, hard of hearing, blind, and those experiencing vision loss across the city, at the lighting ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get to oversee a lot of amazing initiatives and programs for the community. However, tonight is always special for me because we are a part of the lives of young people with disabilities \u2014 letting them know that the NYPD is here for them and will always be here for them,\u201d Assistant Commissioner Alden Foster of the Community Affairs Bureau said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The large crowd began singing the \u201c12 Days of Christmas\u201d while waiting for the tree to be lit \u2014 breaking out into oohs and aahs and taking out their phones to snap pictures once the switch flipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing. Sparkling. This started the Christmas season. I came to New York just to see the tree lighting. It\u2019s an experience,\u201d said Tammy Jacobs, 47, from Cleveland, Ohio.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an iconic American dream. I watch this every year on TV but to be here in person \u2014 it\u2019s the feel, the experience. People were signing and talking as we waited,\u201d Jacobs, a retired military member, added.<\/p>\n

Friends and coworkers who traveled to New York City for a work conference were also stunned as they stopped by for the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a timeless tradition, and we\u2019re able to share it with all of these New Yorkers,\u201d exclaimed Floridian Nick Herrera.<\/p>\n

Janet Criollo, a retired teacher from Ecuador who was visiting her daughter, called the moment a \u201cblessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like a blessing. It\u2019s a dream come true. I love Christmas, it\u2019s my favorite holiday,\u201d Criolla said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Locals and tourists from across the world braved the crowds and the cold on Wednesday, waiting hours in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12565,12879,57,9,24,55,54,56,12566,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-60453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-christmas","9":"tag-christmas-in-rockefeller-center","10":"tag-metro","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-city-news","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-rockefeller-center","17":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}