Fourth of July Fireworks Back are Coming Back to the East River

Pic via Dumbonyc.com

Say what you will about our Mayor Bill de Blasio, he said he would bring the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks back to the East River and he delivered. So suck it Jersey! Although being a dirty Jerzian by birth, I do feel a little bad. 

Yesterday in a press conference on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, de Blasio said he was closing the deal he started last year as Public Advocate when he met with Macy's executives and begged them to bring the display back to the East River. As quoted by the New York Times, de Blasio said moving the celebration had been "a priority for our administration" mainly because "many more New Yorkers" could enjoy the show from various locations throughout the city.

For years Macy's threw off their fireworks in there straight up through 2009 when they were moved to the Hudson River to commemorate Henry Hudson's 400th anniversary of discovering the area. Well that party has lasted four years and deBlaz wanted them back toward his home borough. Also at the press conference was Macy's director of events, Amy Kule who said that this year's display will be bigger and better than previous years because they will be using the Brooklyn Bridge "as a canvas" for the show. Kule said "Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks are a one-of-a-kind spectacle that will once again inspire audiences nationwide as we illuminate the shores of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn with stunning effects, color and sound." She also said that the displays migration may not be permanent citing that the show was first positioned on the Hudson near the Upper West Side back in 1958 and has "always been nomadic in nature." 

De Blasio's quick retort to that was "I'll simply say that I favor this new location and we're going to do everything we can to make that as typical and frequent as possible." He went on to say: "In a world where few things are free, this is something that's free. We think this is something that will really benefit a lot of people in this city, particularly folks who don't have the opportunity to go to this kind of entertainment that costs a lot of money. This is something they look forward to all year, and it's worth the investment."

The show itself will last 26 minutes with barges set up south of the Manhattan Bridge and out in New York Harbor. So this Fourth of July Slopers can grab a patch of roof, a nice cold drink (or many), some illegal rooftop BBQ, and watch away.