Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree’s arrival kicks off holiday season in New York

The Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree has been hoisted aloft at its new home in Manhattan, marking the start of New York City’s holiday season.

This year’s tree is a 75ft-tall Norway spruce from the town of East Greenbush, a suburb of Albany.

The crowds were much bigger at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where workers used cranes to hoist the tree into position overlooking the famous skating rink.

People gathered with coffee cups and phones as crews secured the spruce and began the careful process of stabilising it.

It will be lit on December 3 during a live TV broadcast hosted by country music star Reba McEntire and remain on display until mid-January, after which it will be milled into lumber for use by the affordable housing non-profit Habitat for Humanity.

The tree was donated by homeowner Judy Russ and her family. She said it was planted by her husband’s great-grandparents in the 1920s.

The first Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree was put up by workers in 1931 to raise spirits during the Great Depression.

The comparatively modest 20ft balsam fir was outfitted with garlands handmade by the workers’ families.

The tradition stuck as the first tree-lighting ceremony was held in 1933.