The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting is a favorite event of the holiday season every year in New York City and this year's lighting takes place on Wednesday.
The NYPD is planning to close a number of roads in the area of Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan leaving public transportation a better option to get around the area that night.
The public is able to come and attend in designated viewing areas that typically open around 4 p.m.
When is the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting 2024?
The 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
The tree will be lit just before 10 p.m. Eastern.
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How and where to watch the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting
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For those in New York City hoping to watch the lighting in person, the special event will take place by the tree, situated above the Rink at Rockefeller Center between 49th and 50th Streets, and 5th and 6th Avenues.
Though the area around Rockefeller Center is open to the public, viewers can buy tickets to be photographed with the tree in the background. VIP tickets are also available for a closer spot to the tree.
What roads are closed for the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting on Wednesday?
The NYPD said the following road closures will be in place starting as early as Monday and running through 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday:
- 46th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 47th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 48th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 49th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 50th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 51st Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 52nd Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
- Rockefeller Plaza between 48th Street and 51st Street
- 6th Avenue between46th Street and 52nd Street
- 5th Avenue between 46th Street and 52nd Street
The NYPD said additional closures in the area are possible on Wednesday.
When will the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting be on TV and what channel will it be on?
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting pre-show coverage will start at 6:30 p.m. on the NBC New York streaming channel in the NBC NY app, on Peacock or wherever you stream.
Full coverage starts at 7 p.m. on NBC New York with "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" hosted by Natalie Pasquarella, David Ushery and Mario Lopez.
The national program begins at 8 p.m. on NBC television hosted by Kelly Clarkson, who will be joined by TODAY's Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Al Roker and Craig Melvin.
When is the Rockefeller Christmas tree lit every day?
The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is lit daily from 5 a.m. to midnight.
On Christmas Eve, the tree will be lit for an entire 24 hours, whereas on New Year's Eve the spruce will be illuminated from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
How long will the Rockefeller Christmas tree be up?
Rockefeller's Christmas Tree will be on display to the public through mid-January 2025.
What happens to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree after it comes down?
The tree goes from providing Christmas joy to providing housing.
When the tree is taken down, it is laid in Rockefeller Plaza to be cut up and taken to a yard in New Jersey. There it is milled into two-by-four and two-by six beams and branded with a Rockefeller Center stamp. Tishman Speyer, the firm that owns and operates Rockefeller Center, then donates the lumber to Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps to build and improve homes across the country.
