Hi friends, welcome back! It’s not Christmas in New York without a stop to see the Rockefeller Christmas tree. This year’s tree is a Norway Spruce from Vestal, New York. It reaches 80 feet tall, 43 feet wide, weighs twelve tons, and is believed to be eighty to eighty-five years old. I was always curious how the tree is chosen, and I recently learned that people apply to donate their tree. In order to be selected, the tree must be an older Norway Spruce around seventy-five feet tall and forty-five feet wide. The tree arrives in mid-November and a crew works to outfit it with over 50,000 multi-colored LED lights. The finishing touch is a Swarovski star that is over seven hundred pounds and has 70 spikes and three million crystals.
Every year there is a big celebration to light the tree, we attended in 2021, but we thought it was a one and done event because a lot is pre-taped. This years tree lighting ceremony was hosted by Kelly Clarkson on November 29th. The show featured other performances by celebrities such as Cher, the Rockettes, and Barry Manilow.
I love seeing this tree, but this year especially the crowds are so off putting. You can hardly move at night, even during the week, so we just try to get in and out as fast as possible. If I could, I’d wake up super early to see the tree turn on in the morning.
This tourist climbed into the middle of the fountain to get his picture…
Once the tree is lit, you can see it “From 5am-midnight until January 13th at 10:00pm. From December 15th through Christmas Eve, The Tree will be lit from 5am-1am. On Christmas Day, the Tree is lit for 24 hours and on New Year’s Eve it is lit from 5am to 9pm.” After January 13th, the tree is donated to Habitat for Humanity.
Located seven blocks south of Rockefeller, Bryant Park is the second most popular spot in NYC around the holidays. Starting in late October, this popular park gets transformed into a Winter Village complete with an ice rink, curling, holiday shops, and a bar area called The Lodge. The Winter Village. sponsored by Bank of America, opened October 27th and will be up through March 3, 2024. The holiday shops are open Mon-Fri 11am-8 pm and Sat & Sun 10am-8pm until January 2, but The Lodge and ice rink will be open until March 3rd.
Skating is free with a reservation, but skates are not included. You can also rent bumper cars starting in January.
The past few years I shared that I’ve been disappointed the tree didn’t have any ornaments like it did pre-Covid. Well perhaps somebody read my blog because this year the ornaments returned to the tree! It looks so much better than it did the past two years. I love that they used traditional and festive ornaments too. This years tree is a 48 foot tall Norway Spruce from Hornell, NY and there was a tree lighting ceremony on November 28th. The lighting ceremony is more lowkey than Rockefeller and most of the performers are famous figure skaters.
My mom and sisters came to see the holiday cheer this year.
Some of our favorite spots to eat at Bryant Park are Sweet Tooth, Casa Toscana, Koukli Saucy Greek, and El Pambazo Shop. You can find a directory here of all the shops and eateries.
As you can see, both Rockefeller and Bryant Park are must-see spots around the holidays. I always try to go as early in the season as possible to avoid the crowds and have a better experience. Stay tuned for my last two NYC Christmas posts.
