Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Gets Big-Time Boost from Genie Telescopic Boom

The unveiling of New York’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is an iconic prelude to the holiday season. And the latest celebration can thank a forklift of sorts for making it all possible. A Genie S-85 telescopic boom helped install the famous Midtown Manhattan Christmas tree earlier this month.

An American tradition since 1933, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree of 2013 took the form of a massive, majestic 76-foot Norway spruce.

Genie dealer Tri Lift supplied the boom, which enabled the rigging crew to place the necessary guy wires after a large crane raised tree on November 8th. The guy wires add essential support to the huge Christmas tree.

Forklift work doesn’t usually receive the spotlight, but this particular instance put one forklift firmly in focus.

The high-profile Rockefeller Christmas tree was unveiled on December 4^th. Ratings for the show, hosted by NBC’s “The Today Show,” hit a seven-year high. The show averaged 9.9 million viewers, the highest since 2006.

But even the raising of the tree gained an enthusiastic viewership on November 8^th. The boom had to leave Tri Lift’s yard in Connecticut at 3:30 AM the morning of the installation in order to arrive in Rockefeller Plaza by 5:30 AM. The driver had to wait for the crews to finish installing the tree, then immediately drive the lift back to Connecticut.

“It was certainly not one of our standard rentals, but it was a great opportunity for us to be a part of something so high-profile and meaningful to people here and throughout the country,” Tri Lift manager Mike Degennaro said.

The tree raising was streamed live on a New York City television station’s website. Everybody at Tri Lift spent most of the day watching the coverage on their computers in their offices.

So a month before the big show, a small segment of the forklift industry enjoyed their unique contribution to the holiday season.

“It made us all feel like we were really a part of it all,” Degennaro said.

For more information on this story, read the article at Better Roads.