Posted on 11/16/2008 12:38:22 PM PST by yankeedame
Thanksgiving is still two weeks away, but the Christmas season officially began today—at least here in New York City—with the installation of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Problem is, how do you install a monster tree in the middle of a crowded plaza? With about 10 guys, a crane, cables and a little eyeballing.
Bob Gerosa, a third-generation rigger, runs the family business that erects the tree each year. He told PM that this year's tree weighs approximately 13,000 pounds (about 8 tons). That's actually light for a Rockefeller tree—two years ago the tree weighed about 36,000 pounds, and the average is about 20,000. A different family each year supplies the tree; this year's 72-foot-tall Norway spruce came from the Varanyak family in western New Jersey. Once the tree was shipped to Rockefeller Center, it was time for Gerosa's team to get going.
The team used a crane with a 142-foot boom to raise this year's tree. Workers attached two cables—the main load line, designed to carry most of the weight, went on the top of the tree. A lesser cable went on the bottom. Gerosa said the crane operator uses those two cables to raise the tree horizontally. The main load line then brings up the top until the tree stands upright. Riggers like to have plenty of room for error—Gerosa said that the crane, with a 142-foot boom and a 45-foot radius from the tree's center of gravity, could hoist more than twice the spruce's weight.
When the trunk was secured in the metal stand, Gerosa's crew disconnected the bottom cable but left the top—"You always keep the crane hooked up for safety," he said. At that point, it's time to straighten the tree and secure the top. Workers up in the top limbs of the tree—including Gerosa's son—attach one end of the anchoring cables.
Gerosa himself doesn't usually go up there, but he said it's not so bad. "There's plenty of branches to stand on," he said. "It's like when you were a kid." The situation gets more precarious with wind or bad weather, he said, but today the crew was fortunate to have clear skies and little breeze.
Once one end of the anchoring cables was secured to the tree, the riggers ran them to four anchoring points—two on 30 Rock (the GE building) and two on the far side of Rockefeller Center's famous ice skating rink. Gerosa said his guys then adjusted the tension wherever needed to make the tree stand straight—"They eyeball it and try to make it look nice." Then, finally, they were able to disconnect the main crane cable.
That's it for Gerosa's team. Now that the tree's in place, another company comes in to set up scaffolding and decorate it.
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Came a response from my black friend, "Hey, don't call us riggers, call us rigroes!".
Nah, the tree came from Montana
You're welcome!
It isn't shocking that a journalist would be math impaired - but PM? Standards must have really dropped there.
Illegals ... .
And maybe the most entertaining. I mean, we've got our share of fruitcakes but honestly, I can't think of anyone offhand to top Cynthia.
The preferred term is "Rigroes"
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