Royal Rendezvous: Fireworks for the Three Queens at Statue of Liberty

By on January 14, 2011 7:57 am in Events, Maritime, Video

Cunard’s “Three Queens” rendezvoused last night in New York Harbor. The Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria and the recently launched Queen Elizabeth met under a spectacular fireworks display. Karl Junkersfeld caught the display on tape. His report after the jump.

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  • Karl Junkersfeld

    What an incredible sight. I couldn’t sleep all night from the excitement of seeing this event. This was one of the most picturesque scenes I have ever seen in all my days of living in New York City. The scene of the ships, with their firework display accompaniment, was reminiscent on some of the great 4th of July fireworks over the Brooklyn Bridge.

    Incredible. Thanks Claude for highlighting this event for my calendar. I probably would have missed it otherwise. I owe you a beer at the new restaurant, Bevacco on Henry and Cranberry, when it arrives in a few months

  • Bongo

    Wish I’d stuck around. After waiting 40 minutes in the freezing cold, and witnessing a very meagre, 2-shell display, I called it a night, and assumed that was it. What time did the display actually start?

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Don’t know when it started but you are correct when you say it was freezing. My hands and feet were numb. I had little problem keeping the camera still since I was frozen in place. (Actually, the opposite was true. Every time I took my gloves off to shoot, my hands would be in great pain from the cold.) The wind chill by the Battery was ferocious.

    My guess it was after 7:00PM but not sure.

    Someone behind me said, after that initial volley to which you refer, “Macy’s has nothing to worry about.” Then he and his family left for warmer pastures. You were not alone with the early exit.

  • BG

    7:03 seemed to be the start time. I was walking away, thinking it was going to take a while for another ship to come down the Hudson, and then the “booms” started. It must have been a solid fifteen minutes or so of pyrotechnics (and, YES, it was cold!).

  • lois

    Thanks for enduring the cold to film this historic event. We watched from the cold and windy promenade, dressed in our Nordic gear, but our pix did not come out very clear (only the one of me bundled up). Many thanks, Karl.

  • Rona Critic

    Great job, Karl. By the way, I dropped my shoulder bag on the promenade, and didn’t notice until we got home. Our wonderful 21-year-old grandson ran back to the promenade and found the bag neatly hung on a fence just like a little kid’s hat. Nothing inside was touched–isn’t this a marvelous neighborhood!!
    Rona Schneider

  • ujh

    Dear Mr. Junkersfeld,
    I usually admire your astute commentary, but your comparing the measly fireworks with the 4th of July spectaculars is rather peculiar. If the stuff had at least been set off from one location, I would say it would have been “somewhat” impressive. But thank you for braving the cold; it felt like 20 degrees at most.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Well ujh, you make an excellent observation, that certain aspects of my behavior are “peculiar. Indeed.

    Seriously, there may have been a bit of hyperbole in my proclamation but the affect this event had on me was amazing. I was up all night afterwards just thinking about what i just saw.

    Of course the fact that my hands and feet were suffering the effects of frostbite may have contributed to my staying awake but I thoroughly enjoyed this spectacular show.

    One possible reason for your less than enthusiastic review was possibly your viewing location if you were observing from the promenade or Brooklyn in general.

    You had to see this performance from Battery Park and its immediate surroundings to get the full effect. Also, the fact that I have lived in the Heights 30+ years and seen the Brooklyn Bridge fireworks frequently may have some influence for my over the top statement. Fact is, I’m a big fan of the Brooklyn Bridge and walk over it daily. Even made a movie about it to celebrate its 127th anniversary, fireworks and all.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6abPBXhkX0

    On a final note, you really admire my astute commentary? I’ve never been called astute, not once in my lifetime. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for just linking my name and the word astute in the same sentence. That was really cool. Thanks.