Heightened security amid Rockefeller Christmas Tree lighting

The 30th Annual Christmas in the Park in Henderson’s historic Central Park will officially open with the tree lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4.

The famous Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree is being lit for the 83rd time on Wednesday night.

Want to live tweet and keep up with updates from the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting? This year’s Norway Spruce is 89s years old, towers at 78 feet tall, and weighs about 10 tons.

Tens of thousands of spectators are expected to fearless a damp and dismal December day with an 80% chance of precipitation.

There are also performances by Mary J. Blige, Andy Grammer, Band of Merrymakers and James Taylor.

The celebration came with security restrictions including a prohibition on umbrellas.

Sting, Michael Buble and The Bandy Perry took to the stage to belt out Christmas songs during the event which saw massive crowds and heightened security in the midtown Manhattan neighborhood. NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton says no credible threat has been reported. “We started to see it drop off a little bit”, Jeff Pendley, Optimist Club Christmas Tree Chairman, said.

“I wanted to bring the tree back to Main Street”, said Knott as she and other volunteers spent Sunday securing and decorating an 18-foot tall Christmas tree in the front yard of the Guy B. Woodward Museum at 645 Main St.

After the holidays, the tree will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity, which builds houses for the needy.

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