NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg helped light the Rockefeller Center tree on Wednesday, an 80-foot Norway spruce that made it through Hurricane Sandy.

Thousands of onlookers crowded behind barricades on the streets that surrounded Rockefeller Center. A video screen was provided for those who did not have a direct line of sight of the tree, which was illuminated with more than 30,000 lights and topped by a Swarovski star.