Crowds of tourists and people who wanted to get in the Christmas spirit were in central Manhattan under draconian security measures to watch the traditional tree lighting at Rockefeller Center.
The setting in New York's iconic square is truly fairytale-like.
The switch was pressed according to the tradition by the mayor of the city, Bill De Blasio. This year's tree is 75 feet tall, weighs over 12 tons, comes from Norway and is decorated with 50.000 LED lanterns.
The brilliant star at the top of the tree is made of Swarovski stones, weighing 250 kg and 2,8 meters long.
Since the Great Depression, the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center has been an attraction for thousands of locals but mostly tourists visiting the bustling big city during the holidays.
The ice rink that is set up next to the Christmas tree is now a tradition.
The 85th ceremony was broadcast live on NBC. One of the presenters of the event would be Matt Lauer, however he was fired due to "inappropriate sexual behavior" to a colleague.