The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights up in New York City

Audio By Carbonatix

NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty-thousand multi-colored lights were illuminated on Rockefeller Center's iconic Christmas tree Wednesday evening to cheers from the crowds gathered to witness the annual New York City tradition.

The giant Norway spruce, which this year hails from a tiny Massachusetts town, is also topped with a Swarovski star crown featuring 3 million crystals.

The 74-foot-high (23-meter-high) tree was cut down last month in West Stockbridge and trucked to Rockefeller Plaza. Wednesday night's ceremony marked the culmination of the tree's long journey to New York, which began in 2020 when the center's head gardener spotted the tree and asked its owners if they'd consider donating it.

The famous holiday attraction, located above the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, will be on view through mid-January. On Christmas Day, the tree will be lit for 24 hours.

Once the holiday season is over, the tree will be used for lumber for Habitat for Humanity.

Security was stepped up for the annual tree-lighting ceremony after a gunman on Wednesday morning killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO outside a midtown Manhattan hotel about five blocks from Rockefeller Center. Chief of Department Jeffrey B. Maddrey said earlier in the day there would be “massive presence" of police, including additional officers in the subway.

“This is a terrible event, but people are going to go on and enjoy the tree lighting tonight,” he said.