West Edmeston Spruce Is 2026 Rockefeller Center Tree

Reports on exactly when the Decker family’s Norway spruce comes down in West Edmeston, New York, differ by a day. amNewYork lists the cutting for Thursday, Nov. 5, while a Yahoo-hosted report says Nov. 6. Either way, the 75-year-old, 76-foot tree is due to be felled this week and trucked to Manhattan as the 2026 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

Rebecca Decker is named as the donor in two of the reports. The tree is set to arrive at the Plaza on Saturday, Nov. 7, and to be lit on Wednesday, Dec. 2.

A Day’s Difference on the Cutting Date

Three of the four reports reviewed give Nov. 5. amNewYork says cutting is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5, and ABC7 New York also gives Nov. 5. So does This Is CNY, which describes the cut as scheduled.

The Yahoo-hosted report puts the felling on Nov. 6 and describes a two-day trip to Manhattan, ending on Nov. 7. All of them agree on the arrival date. Because the sources split, the cutting day is reported here as Nov. 5 or 6, and the Nov. 7 arrival is the date all of them share.

Seventy-Five Years in a Madison County Hamlet

West Edmeston is a hamlet of just over 1,300 people in New York’s Mohawk Valley, along the Unadilla River, according to the Yahoo-hosted report. This Is CNY places it in Madison County, about 28 miles south of Utica, and amNewYork puts it roughly 200 miles north of Manhattan.

The spruce stands 76 feet tall, measures about 50 feet across and weighs roughly 11 tons, amNewYork reported. The Rockefeller Group announced the choice in a statement on Oct. 26, according to the Yahoo-hosted report, which says the Decker family is donating the tree to New York City.

Trees chosen for the Plaza are usually near their maximum height, amNewYork reported, and often outgrow the property they stand on. After the cutting, the donor’s property is replanted with new trees or other greenery.

amNewYork said Rockefeller Center announced on a Monday that its 2026 tree will be a Norway spruce from West Edmeston, and This Is CNY’s headline calls West Edmeston a tiny central New York hamlet.

Erik Pauzé’s Test for a Plaza Tree

Head gardener Erik Pauzé has chosen the Rockefeller Center tree for more than 30 years, the Yahoo-hosted report said. He told the outlet that he looks for a tree people would want in their living room, “but on a grander scale.” He added: “It needs to make people smile the second they see it.”

Wikipedia’s entry on the tradition says Pauzé visits nurseries across the tri-state area, looks for unusual backyard trees and reviews submissions made through the Rockefeller Center website. It lists hardiness, a classic Christmas-tree shape and the strength to carry heavy ornaments among his tests. Last year’s tree was a Norway spruce from East Greenbush, New York, lit on Dec. 3, 2025, the Yahoo-hosted report said.

This Is CNY listed other upstate trees in recent years: Vestal in 2023, Queensbury in 2022 and Oneonta in 2020. The Oneonta tree carried a saw-whet owl nicknamed Rocky.

The Trip, the Lights and the Star

The tree makes a slow two-day journey to Midtown, according to amNewYork. The tree will carry more than 50,000 energy-efficient LED lights, roughly five miles of strands, and a Swarovski star on top. Last year’s tree wore 57,350 lights, according to the Yahoo-hosted report.

This Is CNY gives the star’s size as 900 pounds and 3 million crystals. The Yahoo-hosted report adds that it has 70 spikes and was designed in 2018.

The lighting is part of the live broadcast “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” on Dec. 2. amNewYork and This Is CNY give a 7 p.m. start; the Yahoo-hosted report lists 7 to 10 p.m. The display runs through Jan. 9, 2027, and can be seen from the Plaza or The Rink at Rock Center.

The Yahoo-hosted report also says the second annual Meet the Tree Day will bring family activities and a holiday workshop presented by Care Bears and FAO Schwarz. This Is CNY noted that the announcement photo shows the spruce under a double rainbow, with a chicken in the field below.

Lumber for Habitat for Humanity

When the display ends, the spruce is not discarded. amNewYork reported that the tree takes on a second life through Habitat for Humanity, which will mill the wood into lumber for its home-building work. Wikipedia dates the lumber tradition to 2007.

The Christmas tree tradition itself is much older. The Yahoo-hosted report traces it to 1931, when construction workers decorated a small tree at the site, with the first formal lighting in 1933. Rockefeller Center organizers told the outlet that “few holiday experiences are as quintessentially ‘New York’ as seeing the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in person.”

The Yahoo-hosted report says the wood will be donated to help build a home. Wikipedia lists the 2025 spruce from East Greenbush as 75 feet tall, a foot shorter than this year’s tree, and says it stayed up until Jan. 10, 2026.

For the Deckers, the tree’s last stretch in West Edmeston comes down to a few days. After that, a spruce that has stood on their property for about 75 years will stand in Midtown Manhattan.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: JJonahJackalope – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons