With the holidays "right around the corner," New York City is exploding with cheery decorations and events.
The ice skating rink and "winter village" at Bryant Park already opened in October. More holiday villages, like the really awesome one in Union Square, are popping up too.
Now that it's November, the holidays have taken over NYC's outdoor spaces, and many of the indoor ones too. But there are a couple indicators that it's not even Thanksgiving yet. One, we haven't had the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade yet. Two, the Rockefeller Center tree isn't yet standing.
There has been a giant Christmas tree posted up in Rockefeller Center, marking the coming of the holidays, every year since 1933-- and this year is no different.
The lighting ceremony, one of the most popular NYC photo opportunities ever, will go down on December 2nd.
In our current state of semi-secularized, PC homogenization and over-commercialization of multiple holidays for lots of people, or "homoge-days" as we like to call them now, it's refreshing to see an old-time tradition going strong in a publicly accepted way.
The Christmas tree tradition, like many Christian traditions, was appropriated from European pagan winter solstice celebrations, much the same way as Halloween. However, they didn't cut down the trees back in the day, they just decorated them right where they stood.
This year, the tree selected is a 78-foot, 10-ton Norway spruce, which will be trucked in on a 115-foot flatbed from Nancy Puchalski and Albert Asendorf's property upstate property in Gardiner, New York.
livethedream17 Until next year! #rockefeller #tree #christmas #radiocity #rockefellertree #winter #nycity #nyc #lights #newyork #tourist #greatestcityonearth #holidaylights #RockCenterXMAS #angel #nevergetsold #whyilovenyc @mirindee @nycphotosniper @rockcenterxmas
Information on the tree's arrival is being purposefully kept on the down low for safety measures, but we're looking forward to seeing everybody on December 2nd at the lighting ceremony.
Check out the footage of the tree being cut down this morning, and we'll see you on the 2nd? Yup, yup!
Check out 13 Events in NYC That'll Rock You Through November.
[via NBC New York]