The main NYC Christmas tree lighting most people mean is the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting , which for the current 2025 holiday season is scheduled for Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at 10 p.m. Eastern during the evening ceremony window of about 7–10 p.m.

Rockefeller Center tree lighting

  • The 2025 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting ceremony takes place on December 3, 2025.
  • The public ceremony runs roughly 7–10 p.m. , with the moment the tree is actually lit set for about 10 p.m..
  • After the ceremony, the tree is lit daily from 5 a.m. to midnight through early January, with special hours on Christmas Eve (24 hours) and New Year’s Eve (until 9 p.m.).

Other NYC tree lightings

If you meant tree lightings in NYC generally (not just Rockefeller Center), there are multiple ceremonies around the city each year, including:

  • Bryant Park Winter Village tree lighting , usually in late November or early December, with skating performances and live entertainment.
  • Additional events in places like Madison Square Park, Washington Square Park, South Street Seaport, Downtown Brooklyn, and Park Avenue , typically from mid‑November through early December, each with its own date and time.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.