Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights up to start holiday season as NYers, tourists brave the cold

Locals and tourists from across the world braved the crowds and the cold on Wednesday, waiting hours in line to catch a glimpse of the iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas tree light up for the holiday season.

The 75-foot tall Norway Spruce from a backyard in Rensselaer County, New York was illuminated in a spectacle of 50,000 stunning colored lights around 10 p.m. in the bustling Midtown hub.

“Ever since I saw Home Alone, I’ve wanted to see the Rockefeller Tree,” said Sharon Harvey, who trekked from the United Kingdom to watch the lighting ceremony as a 60th birthday present from her sister, Hannah.

“New York during Christmas is magical,” Harvey told The Post.

She and her sister had been waiting in line since 3:30 p.m. to see the iconic ceremony.

“We’re really lucky to have this relationship,” Harvey reflected.

Patricia Procobio and her best friend traveled from Richmond, Virginia, and arrived around 2:00 p.m. to be first in line for the tree lighting.

“This is one of my bucket list things,” Procobio said. “It’s the 100th anniversary of the lighting of the tree. I said, ‘I have to go!’

Procobio promised her best friend that they could go shopping and to the restaurant Tavern on the Green in Central Park while visiting the Big Apple, “but today is my day. I’m only here to see the tree, all the other things are extras,” she said.

Jessica Howell, 33, visited the Big Apple for the first time with her pal, Michelle Bullock, 46,

“I love Christmas. I grew up watching the tree lighting on TV, and we just decided to come see it in person. Last year I watched it on tv and this year we are here,” said Howell.

Katie Demarco also came out to see the lit spruce with her five-year-old daughter, husband, and her mother-in-law all the way from Colombia.

“It’s iconic. This is Christmas in New York!” Demarco said.

The tree was put into place on Nov. 8  with help from Judy Russ and her 7-year-old son, Liam.

Just two days earlier, the spruce had been growing in the backyard of their upstate New York home.

The magnificent tree for this year’s festivities was donated in honor of her husband, Dan, who died in 2020 at the age of 32.

The tree stood on the family’s East Greenbush property for 75 years and reached such astounding heights that Dan even dreamed about it one day becoming the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree