Our local skies will soon be lit up in spectacular displays of bursting colors for the annual 4th of July festivities. Locals and visitors to Hudson County will have plenty to choose from with firework shows in New York City, Jersey City, Bayonne, East Rutherford and Secaucus. To find out the best places to watch in your town, read on!
Jersey City
Jersey City’s July 4 celebration at Liberty State Park will be the largest event held in Hudson County. Visitors are advised to travel by Bergen-Hudson Light Rail since around 200,000 visitors are expected to visit the park on July 4.
The park will host the Freedom Fest concert, which will begin at 2 p.m. and host live musical acts such as John Christian Ray Goodman & Brown and Frankie Lymon’s Teenagers. Prime viewing for the fireworks show is on the south field, which is located next to the Central Railway Terminal where live entertainment and food vendors will be housed. The fireworks will begin around 9:15 p.m. There will also free ice cream for children.
“Thousands upon thousands of people have attended Liberty State Park for over 30 years now with the expectation of a great show,” Mayor Jerramiah Healy said two weeks ago. “It’s really important for themselves, as well as other citizens to come down and enjoy the waterfront.” The fireworks will be shot off from inland in the park (see sidebar).
Macy’s New York
The 31st annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks will take place this year along the East River between 23rd and 42nd streets and at South Street Seaport. The 30-minute show will begin at 9:20 p.m. It is one of the largest area shows with fireworks being fired from eight different barges. The fireworks can usually be seen from parts of the Hudson County waterfront.
“[Macy’s fireworks show] is the biggest show in the nation and it’s the most technologically advanced,” said Orlando Veras, Macy’s spokesperson, last week.
Nautical strobe and mine fireworks, which after being launched float on top of water, will make their United State’s debut on New York City’s East River. They will be used in the Pirates of the Caribbean II portion of the show, where a battle between the firework barges, as pirate ships, will be enacted.
The southbound lanes of the F.D.R. Drive from 14th to 42nd streets will be open for viewing at 7 p.m. The South Street fireworks display has a number of good viewing spots in Brooklyn, including the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and the F.D.R. Drive from Broad Street to the Brooklyn Bridge on the lower East side of Manhattan.
“We’re having double barge configurations because we’re trying to expand how we present [fireworks] so that it’s wider across and higher up,” Veras said.
The New York Pops are providing a soundtrack, titled “In Our Children’s Eyes,” which will be synchronized to each individual firework shell. The music is under the direction of Rob Fisher, the conductor of the New York Pops, and will include everything from movie themes to patriotic songs.
The score can be heard live on 1010 WINS and live coverage will begin at 9 p.m. on NBC-TV.
Meadowlands fair and fireworks
There will be two nights of fireworks at the annual Meadowlands Fair, which is located at the Giant Stadium Fairgrounds in East Rutherford.
The fair will hold holiday hours on July 3 and 4 from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. and includes 150 rides and attractions. In addition, the spectacular show of stars and stripes will begin at the first sight of darkness on both of these nights.
“These fireworks are spectacular,” Patty Buchanan, Fastlane spokesperson for the state fair, said last week. Admission to the fair is $9 for adults, $5 for children 12 and under and free for children under 34” inches. There will also be additional performances, from the Fearless Flores Thrill Show, who perform a motorcycle cage exhibition.
Hypnotist Steve Bayner and the one-armed juggler Dale Jones are just a few of the live acts that will be present. For more information, visit: njfair.com.
Bayonne to launch a show of its own
Bayonne will host its very own show of fireworks on the east side of town on July 3. A musical selection will begin at 7:30 p.m., while the fireworks will launch at 9:30 p.m. The festivities will be held at the Hudson/Bergen Light Rail park and ride lot located at 34th St. and Prospect Ave. Selections from the 1910 Fruitgum Company will be played, a band whose numerous hits in the 1960s earned them gold record status.
Garden State Fireworks Inc. will be orchestrating the show. They are the same company providing fireworks for the Meadowlands Fair and at Liberty State Park.
A splish splash with a bang in Secaucus
In Secaucus, residents and pool members will be able to go to the Swim Center located at 2000 Koelle Blvd. on July 3 at 6 p.m. for Independence Day festivities. There will be T. R. Touch, a live band that plays locally, as well as free food. Children activities, such as bouncy houses and rock climbing walls, will also be provided.
The fireworks will start at around 9:15 p.m. and last for about twenty minutes.
“It’s a nice time out,” John Voli, director of recreation, said last week. “The pool is right there.”
Comments on this piece can be sent to: current@hudsonreporter.com. Barge or not, Jersey City will not budge
This year, locals in Jersey City will have to move inland to watch the fireworks display. Jersey City in past years had its own firework barge to shoot off fireworks near Liberty State Park, when the city worked in partnership with Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular.
Yet this year, New York denied Jersey City’s request for a barge permit, citing the Treaty of 1834, which states that New York has jurisdiction of all of the waterways. Since Jersey City did not get a permit to shoot fireworks off of the Hudson River, the show will launch from the center of Liberty State Park.
Jersey City Director of Cultural Affairs Maryanne Kelleher-Orango said that a compromise could not be made with Macy’s, the New York Fire Department, or the Coast Guard.
In order to ensure that Liberty State Park is free from fire, the ground surrounding the launch site will be wet down by the Fire Department’s pumper trucks to prevent sparks igniting. “What I am sure of is that the people of Jersey City are accustomed to having a fireworks show close to our shoreline and they are going to get that with Mayor Healy’s support and our strong stand on this,” Kelleher-Orango said. “We are going to make sure that happens and that the people of Jersey City aren’t held hostage by a department store.”
Kelleher-Orango said that Garden State Fireworks, Inc. was a more cost-effective choice than Macy’s, especially since they included with their price quote for July 4th an additional free fireworks show for the 31st anniversary of Liberty State Park.
She said last week that Jersey City would like to work with Macy’s in the future regardless of the current impasse. – TT