By Dela Ahiawor
If not, until you’ve checked off New York City’s festive sparkle on Wall Street, you haven’t truly lived that Christmas fantasy.
This photo pulled from my yuletide collection, represents the magical sights I once imagined- New York City at Christmas.
In those years before visiting the US, I find the festive scene on Wall Street so gripping and christmassy, anytime it makes the news on TV (CNN). Now, having strolled through New York’s festive streets, let me get you up to speed on Wall Street’s winter glow.
NYSE’s Christmas tree
The iconic New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Christmas tree, also known as Wall Street Christmas tree is legendary for its long-standing lighting tradition.
Commemorating (102 years) today, December 24, 2025, the NYSE tree lighting ceremony began on December 24, 1923. This predates the famous Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree tradition initiated in 1931; making the NYSE tree one of New York City’s OLDEST public Christmas trees.
The famed NYSE Christmas tree is more than just a tree! It’s steeped in tradition and considered the gold standard of Christmas trees. Towering over 75 feet tall, NYSE’s tree is a glowing showstopper, tricked out with 50,000 LEDs that dazzles onlookers in the Financial District (FiDi).
During the onset of winter, the NYSE tree is lit alongside the “NYSE’s six- column stone facade” in classic Christmas colours (red and green lights).
In the dim and distant past of the early 20th century in America, December 24, 1923, the inaugural lighting of the NYSE tree was presided over by President Calvin Coolidge. This initiative was to promote the use of electric light bulbs on Christmas trees as a substitute for candle wax due to fire hazards.
You can catch sight of NYSE’s famous Christmas fir (tree) on Broad Street in front of NYSE building in Downtown Manhattan at 11 Wall St, New York, NY 10005.
Thanks for indulging my treasured memories of New York City’s festive sparkle!
HAPPY YULE!!!!
PHOTO CRED: 95th NYSE Festive fir by Dela Ahiawor@delreport.