Oct. 27 (UPI) — Preparation is underway for Rockefeller Center’s annual 2025 Christmas tree custom in New York City.
Officials announced Monday a 75-year-old Norway spruce at 75 feet high and weighing about 11 tons was picked to be the iconic tree for this year’s holiday season. The tree was chosen by head gardener Erik Pauze.
“What I look for is a tree you’d want in your living room, but on a grander scale,” according to Pauze, adding it “needs to make people smile the second they see it.”
It was donated by the Russ family of East Greenbush, N.Y., and scheduled to be cut down Nov. 6.
The tree is slated to make the 130-mile journey to arrive in Manhattan at Rockefeller Center on Nov. 8 and will remain in place until mid-January.
Rockefeller’s Christmas tree tradition dates to 1931. Last year’s display was a 74-foot Norway Spruce grown in West Stockbridge, Mass.
After this season’s tree is removed from Rockefeller Center in January, it will be turned into lumber and used for Habitat for Humanity projects.