Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a large Christmas tree placed annually in Rockefeller Center, in Midtown Manhattan. The tree is erected in mid November and lit in a public ceremony in late November or early December. Since 1997, the lighting has been broadcast live, to hundreds of millions, on NBC's "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" telecast on a Wednesday after Thanksgiving. The broadcast features live entertainment and a tree lighting ceremony, where the tree is lit by the current Mayor of New York City and special guests. An estimated 125 million people visit the attraction each
Laurance Rockefeller the advance of urban sprawl. In September 1991, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for contributions to conservation and historic preservation. Awarded by President George H. W. Bush, it was the first time in the Medal's history (since 1777) that it had been awarded for outdoor issues, effectively naming Rockefeller as "Mr Conservation", who more than any other American had put this issue on the public agenda. Rockefeller said at the award presentation that nothing was more important to him than "the creation of a conservation ethic in America". In 1992 Rockefeller and his wife Mary donated their Woodstock,