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New York ushered in the hot phase of the Christmas season by lighting approximately 50,000 lights on the world-famous Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. During the ceremonial ceremony on Wednesday evening (local time), the giant Norway spruce was lit for the first time this season, to the cheers of thousands of visitors.

This year’s tree is about 80 to 85 years old, 24 meters high and 13 meters wide. The twelve-ton spruce comes from a small town in upstate New York, about three and a half hours northwest of New York City. Switching on the lights on the ornate tree has been celebrated annually since the early 1930s and is one of New York’s most popular Christmas traditions, comparable to ice skating at the nearby ice rink, which is already open.

Rockefeller Center, near which there are also numerous famous shops, including on 5th Avenue, is one of the must-stops on any Christmas visit to the eight million metropolis on the American east coast. The tree will not be removed again until the new year. (sda/dpa)