A holiday tradition born out of the despair of the Great Depression evolved into New York’s showcase Christmas event for one of its landmark destinations.
by Rich Watson
For close to a century, the holiday season in New York has been marked by the lighting of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, in midtown Manhattan. Hundreds flock to the televised ceremony, marked by live performances.
The development of the event coincides with that of the Center itself, started during the heart of the Great Depression.
John Rockefeller and Rockefeller Center
John D. Rockefeller Jr. was the son of Standard Oil co-founder John Sr. Throughout his life, he donated to many civic projects and organizations in New York and elsewhere.
In the late twenties, the Metropolitan Opera looked for a site for a new opera house to replace the one at Broadway and 39th Street. JDR supported its construction. He leased the property at what is now 47th-51 Streets, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, from Columbia University. It had been the site of a botanic garden.
Once the Depression hit in 1929, the Met couldn’t afford to move. (Eventually it went to the Upper West Side.) JDR worked with mass media giants RCA, RKO, and NBC to develop the site, initially known as Radio City.
Properties were razed and tenants relocated. Construction began in 1931. At the time, it was the largest private building enterprise ever undertaken.
Among the notable buildings now in the Center include:
- 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the tallest building; home of Comcast and NBC Television
- Radio City Music Hall, the world-famous concert hall (my first concert was there; my sister and I saw Rick Springfield)
- the International Building, where the “Atlas” statue stands
- the News Corp. Building, home of Fox News, the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal
- La Maison Francaise and the British Empire Building, retail and office structures
The skating rink arrived in 1936. It was originally temporary, but by 1939 it was permanent.
The Channel Gardens marks the Center’s main entrance, from Fifth Avenue to the “Prometheus” statue and the ice rink beneath it. This is where the tree goes. A plaza, parallel to Fifth and Sixth Avenues, runs through the Center. A concourse runs beneath, connecting to the subway.
New York’s Christmas tree
New York’s first public Christmas tree was in Madison Square Park, near the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street, in 1912, as a means for the city’s poorer denizens to have a tree they could call their own. The idea spread to other cities nationwide.
In 1931, the Depression created a lot more poor people. Site construction workers chipped in to buy a twenty-foot balsam fir. Their families hand decorated it.
Two years later came the first lightning ceremony, with a fifty-foot tree. During World War Two (and after September 11), the tree was decorated red, white and blue. LED lights were added in 2007. The star is made of Swarovski crystal.
These days, Center gardener Erik Pauzé selects the tree, a Norway spruce.
Rockefeller Center as a holiday destination
The first televised lighting ceremony was in 1951, on The Kate Smith Show. Here she is singing “Christmas in My Hometown” during a Bing Crosby special.
All sorts of singers have performed at the Center over the years. In 1997 the ceremony went prime-time.
In 2022, Fifth Avenue, at the Center’s entrance, was closed to vehicle traffic. I was there.
Coming as it did after the height of the pandemic, it felt good to not only feel safer (relatively speaking) amidst a crowd again, but to be in the middle of a street normally closed to pedestrians. Seeing Fifth from this new perspective, during a festive time of year, was quite a sight.
John Rockefeller Jr.’s legacy
JDR died in 1960. Among his many philanthropic accomplishments included the acquisition of Washington Irving’s Sunnyside estate, as well as Philipsburg Manor House, both in Westchester County. He had them restored and opened them to the public.
A tablet at the Center displays his credo:
I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.
@byrichwatson
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The year 1955 in pop culture: beginning January 2 (note the date!).
Enjoy your holiday.
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