The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree arrived in New York City on Saturday, signaling the start of the holiday season in the Big Apple. The 74-foot Norway spruce was driven into Manhattan’s Center Plaza,

The 93rd year of a holiday tradition is underway in New York City where the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is now on display.

A series of wildfires ravaging parts of rain-starved New Jersey were sending plumes of smoke across the Hudson River and into New York, leaving much of the city blanketed in an eerie haze.

New York City had a weekend of mostly blue skies marred by acrid smoke and air-quality advisories after a series of brush fires, fueled by extremely dry conditions, erupted around the region. People sensitive to pollution were advised that the air quality through Sunday could be at unhealthy levels because of smoke and particulate matter.

In an unusually dry season for the Northeast, fires were pushing potentially dangerous smoke into New York City.