It's Christmastime in the City

Rockefeller Center

Saks Fifth Avenue light show

Macy's

Rockefeller Center Skating Rink

Washhington Square 

Upper Eastside home

New York Public Library lobby

Macy's window display

Fendi, Fifth Avenue

The Peninsula

Inside subway car

Time Warner Center

Wollman Rink, Central Park

View from Union Square

Merry Christmas!

2012 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Arrives in Midtown Manhattan

This morning, the Christmas Tree that will be the centerpiece of the Rockefeller Center during the Christmas holiday season arrived in midtown Manhattan. The 80-foot Norway spruce from New Jersey was loaded on a 115-foot-long flatbed truck and brought to Rockefeller Center. The arrival was featured in NBC's "Today Show." A superstorm Sandy survivor, the tree has now been erected and workers will then string 45,000 lights on the branches. The 80th Christmas tree lighting will take place on November 28.

Rockefeller Center Lights The Iconic Christmas Tree

Last night, Rockefeller Center rang in the holiday season with the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. The Christmas Tree, traditionally a Norway Spruce is decorated with 5 miles (8 kilometers) of environmentally friendly LED lights (30,000). The tree is crowned by a large Swarovski crystal star. Prior to the lighting, several artists participated in live or pre-taped performances including Justin Bieber, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Cee Lo Gree and Carol King, among others. Rockefeller Plaza is located between West 48th and West 51st Streets and 5th and 6th Avenues in midtown Manhattan.

The ROCKEFELLER CENTER CHRISTMAS TREE: Humble Beginnings

I made these photos of this year's Christmas Tree from the 7th Floor of Saks Fifth Avenue, and at the street level last week. Black and white image of the first Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center from time.com.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree's Roots -

Today it's a multimillion-dollar extravaganza that attracts thousands of tourists every year, but the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree hasn't always been so glamorous. On Christmas Eve 1931, with the nation mired in the Great Depression, a group of construction workers erected a 20-foot tree on the muddy site of what would become one of the city's greatest architectural and commercial monuments. Despite their grim faces, the men had cause to celebrate. Unlike most of their colleagues, they were about to get paid. (Notice the wooden crate at the foot of the tree and the clerk behind it dispensing checks). Two years later, a Rockefeller Center publicist organized the first official tree-lighting ceremony. (from the time.com)

CHRISTMAS TREES IN MANHATTAN: ROCKEFELLER CENTER

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is located in the center of the complex of buildings between 47th and 50th Streets and 5th and 7th Avenues. It is illuminated from 5:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. daily, except on Christmas and New Year's Eve. On Christmas, the tree is illuminated for 24 hours and on New Year's Eve the lights are turned off at 9:00 p.m. The Christmas tree is an 84-foot-tall Norway Spruce. This year, all the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights are "green." The light bulbs used are energy-efficient. The tree is adorned with 5 miles of wire and 30,000 multicolored bulbs known as light emitting diodes, or LEDs. Using the new lights is expected to reduce the energy consumption of the holiday display from 3,510 to 1,297 kilowatt hours per day. That daily savings would be equal to the amount of energy used to power a 2,000-square-foot home for a month.

Organizers plan to recycle the tree by using it as lumber for Habitat For Humanity projects in New York, the Gulf Coast, India and Brazil. The tree's topper can sparkle even without any lights: The Swarovski star is adorned with 25,000 crystals. It's almost 10 feet in diameter. The tree used at the Rockefeller Center tends to be one that was ornamentally planted in someone's front or back yard, and not obtained from forests. There is no compensation offered in exchange for the tree, other than the pride of having donated the tree.

Top photo was taken from the 8th Floor of the Saks Fifth Avenue Cafe.