{"id":365868,"date":"2025-11-09T02:26:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T02:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/365868\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T02:26:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T02:26:19","slug":"rockefeller-christmas-tree-has-arrived-in-nyc-and-the-story-behind-it-will-melt-your-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/365868\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockefeller Christmas tree has arrived in NYC and the story behind it will melt your heart |"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RockefellerNew York City’s holiday spirit ignites with the arrival of the 75-foot Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, a 75-year-old spruce donated by the Russ family. This year’s tree holds special significance for Judy Russ, who lost her husband, Dan, in 2020. She shared their dream of seeing their family tree become America’s Christmas centerpiece. The holiday<\/a> season has officially begun in New York City! The iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree<\/a> made its grand entrance through Manhattan. This year\u2019s 75-foot-tall spruce arrived after a 130-mile journey, and the story behind it is even more heart-warming.<\/p>\n

Why this year’s Christmas tree is more special than before<\/p>\n

The giant Norway spruce was donated by the Russ family from East Greenbush, New York. Weighing a whopping 11 tons and spanning 45 feet in diameter, the tree turned heads as it rolled through Manhattan. The arrival of the Rockefeller tree signals the start of the festive season for many New Yorkers \u2014 and this year\u2019s tree is even more special.The Russ family knew the 75-year-old tree standing outside their home in East Greenbush had the potential to become the spectacular Christmas tree that would take New Yorkers\u2019 breath away. When Rockefeller Center\u2019s head gardener, Erik Pauze, came to see the tree in person, they knew their dream was soon to come true.<\/p>\n

The backstory that defines holiday spirit<\/p>\n

Judy Russ, who grew up in New York City, knew what this meant. What did this selection mean for her family? \u201cI think I just hallucinated, like, \u2018We need to go back because there\u2019s no way this is real, right?\u2019\u201d she told NBC. She lost her husband, Dan, in 2020 at the age of 32.\u201cI know he would have loved to have been here for this moment. We always talked about it being the Rockefeller Center tree. It\u2019s so special that my family\u2019s tree gets to be America\u2019s \u2014 if not the world\u2019s \u2014 Christmas tree,\u201d she recalled. The tree was cut down on Thursday.Her son, Liam, too, was elated. \u201cI\u2019m excited that the whole world can see it,\u201d the little one said. \u201cWell, I cry at home in my living room when the tree is lit, so I\u2019m probably going to be inconsolable that day, but it\u2019s going to be great,\u201d Judy added.Judy is planning to attend the official tree-lighting ceremony. On Saturday, the tree made its grand arrival at Rockefeller Center. It will be illuminated on December 3, decorated with more than 50,000 lights, and topped with a Swarovski crystal star before the official lighting. The arrival of the Christmas tree marks the beginning of the holiday season, winning the hearts of New Yorkers and visitors alike. The Christmas tree will remain on display until mid-January 2026.(Pic courtesy: AP\/ Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City’s holiday spirit ignites with the arrival of the 75-foot Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, a 75-year-old…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":365869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,177047,177049,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,177046,124827,177048,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-365868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-christmas-tree-lighting-ceremony","10":"tag-holiday-spirit","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkcity","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-nyc-holiday-season","18":"tag-rockefeller-center-christmas-tree","19":"tag-russ-family","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115517377152335291","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}