New York’s Christmas Tree Is Star for a Season

A bright symbol of the holiday burst to life in Rockefeller Center on Tuesday night as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and three Olympians turned on the 30,000 lights decorating the center’s famed Christmas tree.

Three Olympic gold winners -- ice skater Sarah Hughes and gymnasts Paul Hamm and Carly Patterson -- joined the mayor to light the tree at the annual ceremony in Midtown Manhattan.

“It’s amazing,” said Jessica Mendelsohn, 20, who viewed the lighting ceremony from the crowd. “It’s gorgeous.”

This year’s tree, a 9-ton, 71-foot-tall Norway spruce found on the property of a Suffern, N.Y., family, boasted a star at its top for the first time in its 72-year history. The star is covered in 25,000 crystals and is 9 1/2 feet in diameter.

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey of “Newlyweds” fame sang a duet before the lighting ceremony, and Hughes, who won first place in women’s figure skating in Salt Lake City in 2002, performed on the rink adjacent to the tree.

The festivities -- which included musical performances by Hilary Duff, Clay Aiken, Chris Isaak and Vanessa Williams -- were broadcast from Rockefeller Center and hosted by Al Roker of NBC’s “Today” show. Also on hand were the Radio City Rockettes and the band Chicago.

With temperatures in the 40s, thousands of people stood bundled inside police barricades for the ceremony.