Grand Army Plaza Will Have Modern New Christmas “Tree”

The Prospect Park Alliance is scrapping the traditional Christmas tree that normally stands under the arch at Grand Army Plaza for the holiday season (last year’s is pictured above) in favor of a modern interpretation: They’ve created a 35-foot-tall tree made entirely of exterior LED lights.

The Alliance says they calculated the shape of a traditional douglas fir and used 32 strands of lights — 3,200 light bulbs — to make what will be the largest Christmas tree in the Park’s history.

“With so many new things going on in the Park, including the LeFrak Center at Lakeside and the Zucker Natural Exploration Area, we thought this would be the perfect time to give new life to the Christmas tree tradition,” said Emily Lloyd, president of the Prospect Park Alliance.

The official lighting will be held on Monday, December 16 Friday, December 13 (it got ready to go a little sooner than anticipated!) and the “tree” will stay up through the New Year.