Yesterday's Fireworks

Yesterday was an unseasonably cool and beautiful July 4th, and last night's fireworks were as spectacular as ever. There was even a special tribute to the NYC 2012 Olympics bid in the show (bronze, silver and gold shells), which Gothamist thought was a little hokey, but at least they didn't do interlocking Olympic rings - we love the smiley faces!

Did you see the fireworks last night? Where did you watch them? And if you took pictures, link to them in comments.

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By Jen Chung in News on July 5, 2005 7:26 AM

Comments [rss]

Cristian

A put up a few photos -- these were taken from the lawn of the United Nations:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16877202@N00/sets/550720/

Caviar

I put up a few shots. You can clearly see the cloud, but they still came out pretty well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fields/sets/545333/

m.d

taken from a rooftop in brooklyn heights: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fivealive/23848225/in/set-548171/

Captain Midnight

Jen,

If you think '86 display was amazing from Hoboken, it's too bad you didn't get to see it from Battery Park, where I was. Looking up, the whole sky was filled with fireworks as far as the eye could see, almost from horizon to horizon. Only one sight ever matched that for me - a massive lightning storm that lasted for almost ten minutes. Only nature could have put on a show that could rival those fireworks.

Jen

The 1986 fireworks were amazing, Captain Midnight! At the time, my uncle had a place in NJ, right on the Hudson, so we watched them from there, and as a nine year-old, it was awesome to celebrate the Statue of Liberty AND have red-white-and-blueberry ice cream.

Did anyone's landlords/building supervisors lock them out of the rooftops? I've heard of two instances so far.

Brian Van Nieuwenhoven

Yeah, we did the FDR thing too, and the finale was obscured by a sudden smoke cloud that formed between the barges and the shoreline. Hopefully the Brooklyn side enjoyed the finale better. But it didn't matter anyway, because the entire show was spectacular.

I'll have photos up later today, but none for right now. There's 200 to sort through!

Captain Midnight

To me, no fireworks show will ever compare with the Liberty Centennial's in '86. What a blast!

wls

I was on the FDR down by Pearl St. I could only see two barges, but I was right across from them so the view was fantastic. Although the smoke JVD mentions ruined the grand finale -- I think the wind shifted at the end and blew it back towards us -- I enjoyed it. I liked the apple and cube shaped fireworks -- they got a big reaction from the crowd around me, too.

Tim

Independence Day is not about the Olympics. Independence Day is about Will Smith whuppin some aliens.

JVD

We weren't aware there were smiley faces, or shells, or anything resembling fireworks -- five minutes into the show, an enormous brown smoke cloud resembling a whale covered the sky and soon descended upon Midtown and the park. We tried to watch from a roof terrace on Central Park West but gave up and retired to the living room to watch the thing on NBC. I'm wondering if anyone else had this problem.

ThePinkPanther

Stream of the finale.

http://www.vimeo.com/clip=2419

C

I watched with friends from Gantry Plaza in Long Island City. Great view. I'd go there again to see them.

Rose

Independence Day is not about the Olympics.

jay

We staked out a spot on the lawn in front of Gigino in Wagner Park after being turned away from the Yo La Tengo concert in Battery Park. A perfect spot with the Statue of Liberty directly in sight. Even Beyonce and Jay-Z thought so....they showed up at the restaurant about 8pm causing a minor mob scene. With all this excitement I was completely let down by the display that was set off from near Liberty Island. It was too far away to make any difference from watching it on my television at home...and the grand finale was one of the weakest i've ever seen. Even Jay-Z and his entourage left half way through.

Brian Boyd

Photoset located here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boyds/sets/543018/

tien

while i love the fireworks, i kind of feel they are the same every year despite the face and the shells (i thought they looked like baseballs).

Brian Boyd

We viewed the fireworks from the roof deck of 41 River Terrace (on the corner of Chambers and the Hudson River). All 7 barges could be seen, however the best view was of the barge by the Statue.

roger

who cares about the olympics? i hope that we don't get them. the city doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the extra human traffic and, besides, it's a proven economic drag. let's rebuild downtown, and let the ioc go ruin another city.

guido

I bet they'd never do Olympic rings for fear of being sued by the International Olympic Committee -- they are VERY strict on copyright.

I watched the whole thing (well, a third of it - much was obscured by buildings) from a low B'klyn rooftop. A perfect silhouette of a water tower in the foreground...wisht I had a camera...