NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- It's a cut above the rest!
The 2023 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was felled in upstate New York on Thursday and will arrive in New York City this weekend ahead of the annual tree lighting later this month.
Crowds gathered in Vestal, New York—about 10 miles west of Binghamton—as the 80-year-old Norway spruce was cut down and loaded onto a flatbed truck.
This year's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, an 80-foot tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce, that has been wrapped for transport, is craned onto a flatbed truck, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Vestal, NY.Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer
This year's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, an 80-foot tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce, that has been wrapped for transport, rests on a flatbed truck, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Vestal, NY.Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer
The stunning spruce--which is 80 feet tall and 43 feet wide--was unveiled last week by Tishman Speyer, the company that owns Rockefeller Center.
Now that the tree has been felled, it will be hauled 185 miles south to Midtown Manhattan, where it's set to arrive on Saturday.
The wrapped 80-foot tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce, will serve as this year's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Vestal, NY.Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer
Once at 30 Rock, the tree will then be decorated with 50,000 LED lights and crowned with a Swarovski star before it takes center stage at the beloved tree lighting on Nov. 29.
The tree will be on display in Rockefeller Plaza until Jan. 13.
Noah McElligott, 10, poses near the wrapped 80-foot tall Norway Spruce that will serve as this year's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Vestal, NY.Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer
Jackie and Matt McGinley pose with their children Charlie and Zooey in front of the wrapped 80-foot tall Norway Spruce that their family donated to serve as this year's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree,
Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Vestal, NY.Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer
