Fourth of July Fireworks to Remain on Hudson This Year

By on May 27, 2010 2:14 pm in Events

Unfortunately for residents of Brooklyn, as well as Queens and the east side of Manhattan, Macy’s has announced (see press release here) that, like last year, this year’s Fourth of July fireworks will be launched from barges in the Hudson instead of the East River.

Update: Reader Brian Shahum contacted Macy’s and asked why the fireworks were on the Hudson again this year. He received this reply:

Thanks for your note and the opportunity to clarify. Macy’s Fireworks actually began on the Hudson River and have been fired from there more than a dozen times throughout our history. Over the course of its 34 years as an annual event the Fireworks have been located at various points surrounding New York City including the East River, Hudson River and NY Harbor.

The location of the Fireworks show is determined by many factors, but the two most important reasons for a location is that year’s show design/effects and the ability for a majority of spectators to see the show live.

We strive to bring newness to the show each year and when we have an opportunity to bring in new effects/interesting new design elements we do so. This innovation may lead to a change of venue in order for us to give a maximum number of spectators the opportunity to see the show, as we planned it.

The show this year will be on the Hudson, however we will continue to move the show to different locations in NYC in the future as we celebrate milestones or add new and exciting elements/effects to the show.

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  • DrewB

    Boooooooooooo! Hooking up jersey instead of the 718 is weak!

  • Heightsman

    Very weak. I started going away during this week so not so pressed.

  • Bon Scott

    BEST news I’ve heard all day. Is it me or are fireworks entertainment for simpletons?

  • nabeguy

    Even though the new BBP is custom built for fireworks on the East River, I shudder to think of the damage that 500,000 feet would do the the newly planted lawns. Actually, on 2nd thought, the parks proximity to the river might be a little TOO perfect, especially if the prevailing winds are coming in from the west. I once remember watching a fireworks show at Atlantic City on a windy night and being pelted by shell casings at a distance of 1/8 of a mile

  • David on Middagh

    Well, Bon Scott, now that budgets are (presumably) tighter, maybe the pyrotechnicians will be asked to put up an artful and thoughtfully-paced display, instead of cramming as many shells as possibly into half an hour.

  • jorale-man

    That’s very disappointing though I do see the flip side: the neighborhood won’t be overrun with people leaving their trash, trampling the grass, throwing up on the sidewalk, etc. But I’m sure business owners in the area are unhappy with the loss of potential customers too.

  • Arch Stanton

    @ Bon Scott,
    Perhaps you are the simpleton…

  • Seth

    @Arch Stanton:
    Actually, studies have been done that show a correlation between diminished IQ and appreciation of fireworks.

  • GHB

    People dump enough sh!t on the promenade on a normal day…don’t need additional mess on the 4th!

  • John

    Best News of the summer !!!

  • my2cents

    I have to agree with nabeguy. The tatooed one has a point about the lawn getting wrecked in its first season.

  • David on Middagh

    Regarding the park lawn, the Powers That Be could lottery-off a set number of tickets to it for any future fireworks — not for big bucks, just to cover the administration costs, which might even be incorporated into the park’s ginormous upkeep budget as “preventative measures”. I’m sure someone who has taken a course in advanced bureaucratese could handle it.

  • ABC

    ugh. this thread reminds me of the Pool Lady discusssion. “those people” all walking around, etc. if the park wasn’t designed for a crowd, I don’t know what to say. plus, so much of that park is pavement I dont see what possible harm it could do

  • Joe

    This is good news as I usually skedattle out of here on July 4th due to people and the fireworks noise (small children who are more frightened of fireworks than thunder).

  • Arch Stanton

    @ Seth,
    Oh Really? Please quote the studies…. Aside form that My IQ has been tested 3 times the average score 157… and I happen to love fireworks…

  • trolllalala

    we also need a bibliography on where you accrued such studies. And Arch, I’m gonna need some documentation for your IQ.

  • WillowtownCop

    I’m glad they’re gone. Too many Bs and Ts from Manhattan that night, leaving trash. And fireworks scare my cats.

  • nabeguy

    Seth, put your studies where your mouth is. And Arch, don’t brag about a 157 IQ and miss-spell “from”. Just chill, guys.

  • Andrew Porter

    You don’t get it. People will *still* show up and mob the Promenade, thinking that they can see the show from there. Dumb but true.

    I watched the fireworks on my TV last year and it was great. And the company (none) was perfect.

  • Arch Stanton

    @ Andrew Porter, You are absolutely right. Hordes of would-be spectators show up on the Promenade regardless of where the fireworks are actually being shot from… they are the simpletons, LOL…
    @ Nabeguy, I’m not sure where I misspelled “from”? If I did it was a typo… which is not quite as high a level of idiocy as not knowing how to spell the word…

  • David on Middagh

    Nabeguy, you misspelled “misspell”.

    There! Everybody orthographically cheesed off, now?

  • http://www.flickr.com/paypaul Paul W

    It’s obvious that some of you don’t care for the economic benefit that comes with the 4th of July celebrations. Perhaps some of you will be able to afford to attend all the PRIVATE parties that are going to again be allowed to take up choice real estate on the west side of Manhattan.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/paypaul/3689060456/

    This is simply become a way to herd the peons into small areas to be crammed up nose to nose with very little decent viewing and photographic opportunities. My first and what might be my last viewing of the fireworks occurred in 2008 and it was a fantastic up front viewing show. Now Bloomberg and his rich cronies have secured this festival for their own viewing pleasure and privilege.

    The promenade has not suffered so much in the all the years of the fireworks being on the east river. It has not collapsed or been devastated by the maddening crowds. NYC is a noisy city any time of day, any day of the year. It’s grossly unfair for people on the west side of manhattan and the north shore of NJ to have the ability to see the display but Brooklynites, Staten Islanders and Queens residents can’t view it at all.

  • WillowtownCop

    Why can’t people from Queens and Staten Island see the fireworks? They’ve been banned from taking the train to Manhattan? The west side of Manhattan is supposed to be filthy and full of people who don’t live there.

  • nabeguy

    Got me David.

  • http://www.flickr.com/paypaul Paul W

    It does amaze me how many petty and vindictive people have populated this discussion with their diatribes against fireworks and the people who enjoy a light show and the photographic opportunities it offers. The only “simpletons” I see are the ones who are acting all high and mighty but resorting to the lowest of insults.
    While there are fools who will make any event produce a rain of rubbish on the sidewalks most people who come to see this once a year event are well behaved. I enjoyed myself with minimal hassle 2 years ago when I could view the spectacle from my own borough of Brooklyn. What would you misanthropes say about all the other events, parades and block parties that provide free or near free entertainment to the residents of this and other boroughs of New York City? Would you send the parade to honor local sports teams (I’m not speaking of the Giants or the Jets) to New Jersey? Would you deny the economic benefits to Brooklyn businesses as a result of the fireworks event being held on the East River? Are some of you those people who would and could afford to pay upwards of $70 for a private viewing on a suddenly exclusive pier on the West Side of Manhattan?

  • Alisa

    First Fourth in BH, just want to know, if I wanted to see fireworks, am I going to be able to do it from the comfort of my own borough? Even though it’s on the Hudson side?

  • nabeguy

    Welcome to the nabe Alisa. Unfortunatly, the answer is no.