SHELTON, Conn. >> An 80-foot Norway spruce is joining thousands of other Connecticut commuters as it heads to work in midtown Manhattan.

For the second time in six years, the city of Shelton is sending a Christmas tree to New York City’s Rockefeller Center for the annual holiday display. Workers are expected to cut the tree down Thursday and send it on its way by tractor-trailer to New York City, 70 miles away.

Police are guarding the spruce until tree-cutters arrive.

Mayor Mark Lauretti says furnishing Rockefeller Center with a tree is a big deal for Shelton, which calls itself "the best affordable suburb in Connecticut."

The tree-lighting ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 4. The tree will remain on display until Jan. 7.

Rockefeller Center has displayed Christmas trees since 1931.