Dubai Debt Issues Push Stocks Down
Family Gets Early Christmas Gift From Ellen DeGeneres
Photos of D Train Murder Depict Bloody Panic
Stuy Pyro Leaves Notes In Hieroglyphics
Have Fancy Dress & Thirst For Spotlight, Will Crash State Dinner
While the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular was definitely spectacular (see the photos), the show's organizers moved the displays further south, closer to the Williamsburg Bridge, in order for more of the NYC skyline to be seen in the TV broadcast. Not only did NBC broadcast from Brooklyn, but NBC also added a chyron (graphic) noting that the fireworks were taking place near Stuyvesant Town at least seven times during the half-hour show.
The only other graphics were to note what songs were being played--no graphics about the fireworks being over the East River or how the crowd shots were in Brooklyn. Is it a mere coincidence that Stuyvesant Town owner is Tishman Speyer, which happens to own and operate Rockefeller Center, which is where NBC's headquarters are? After all, Tishman has wanted to bring in more market-rate tenants to Stuy Town and what better free advertising than implying the fireworks are right near by?
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
How appropriate that the 4th of July is being hijacked by money and corporations... sigh...
Go USA!
From what I can tell, the fireworks didn't pay for themselves.....hint, it's been called the Macy's 4th of July Spectacular for some time now!
I live in LIC and luckily had a great view from a friend's balcony. However, the thousands of people who lined the streets around Gantry Park expecting to see fireworks were out of luck. Macys and NBC gave the cold shoulder to Queens and destroyed an old neighborhood tradition just so the idiots watching fireworks on TV (who does this???) could see the Empire State Building behind the fireworks.
Yes, but what they didn't mention is that the NYPD towed
ALL of the cars on 20th street WITHOUT putting up any signs saying not to park there on the 4th!!! jerks.
I can understand networks using cross-promotion to plug their other shows:
- The American Idol rejects appear on Fox News
- Survivor cast-offs show up on Letterman
- The Olympic trials only appear to be newsworthy on NBC, etc.
But cross-promoting real-estate interests on an entertainment show is going to far, in my opinion.
rodney--that's terrible, it seems like the city government and fireworks organizers only "formally" announced the move on the 3rd... a sudden surprise for many.
Aside from seeing the ESB in the background, I couldn't really see much of the NYC skyline in the TV broadcast. The Stuy Town mentions were frequent and really odd--what is the importance of Stuy Town on a national broadcast? Why not mention "Chinatown" or "East Village" or another neighborhood?
wow, some actual reporting from gothamist, that actually makes you think?! awesome! too bad the corporations don't control the wind (yet), and all us in the east village got was a spectacular view of glowing smoke.
They totally screwed a Queens tradition.
Every year the fireworks are Manhattan-centric. Where the hell were all the other fireworks shows in the rest of the boroughs? What does Bloomberg expect, that all 8 million of us go to the East River.
thanks for the information rodney. that's sad news. we were going to go down to gantry park, but instead decided to watch from astoria. in the past this has worked out fine, but this year the fireworks looked fingernail-sized, and almost silent, since they got moved so far south. a little disappointing--woe is queens.
Stuyvesant Town along with it's sister development, Peter Cooper Village and Rockefeller Center are all Tishman Speyer Properties.
NBC, a division of GE, is headquartered in Rockefeller Center. Unless you're from another planet you can figure out why Stuyvesant Town got 7 plugs on the NBC Network showing of the fireworks.
The Real Estate families rule!
I was watching and nearly fell off my sofa laughing. Tishman Speyer is absolutely, utterly clueless. What they fail to understand is that ST is a residential housing complex, not a corporate park. Make the residents happy and they would be the best advertising ever. I was cringing watching it. Almost as bad as Katherine McFly and her enormous parasol!
The NBC broadcast was awful once again. Could they just show the fireworks without anything else? People want to hear the firework noise not music.
I was in Gantry State Park, and I'm definitely unsatisfied with last night's events. I look forward to the fireworks every year, and I sat out in the rain for two hours with families with young children, tourists from Europe, and people who have been viewing the fireworks from that location for years. When it became obvious that we couldn't see the fireworks, there was a huge groan of disappointment that went up from the crowd, and everyone just picked up and start moving. The police and the Parks Department employees were disappointed right along with us, because apparently not even they had gotten the memo.
Macy's can do whatever the hell they want to do with their fireworks, but if they're going to change a New York City tradition that has taken place in the same location for years, then perhaps they could advertise that fact? Just maybe? It would have been the right thing to do, for the thousands of people who got screwed and could have *not* been screwed if they'd just known that they needed to go to Brooklyn or the FDR instead of Queens. I'm a grown-up, and I'll get over it, but I feel bad for all the little kids who were let down so that Stuyvesant Town could look all special on a national TV network whose viewers in other parts of the country don't know what Stuy Town is and don't care.
I have to agree about Gantry State Park- this was my second time going to view the fireworks from that location (first was in 2005). After talking it up to my friends as a great location to see the fireworks, I was pretty disappointed, as the fireworks seemed very far away. Luckily, we managed to get a spot out on the piers, so at least we could see the fireworks, but I can't help thinking that Macy's/NBC deliberately chose to make the TV audience happy rather than the thousands of New Yorkers who come out every year. Here's hoping they move it back to the way it was next year.
Wonder if anyone can report on how the view was from the FDR? If it was a lackluster show for ereene and other people on the piers, then the people directly across the river on the FDR near 42nd Street must have been disappointed, too, and that was an *official* official viewing area.
I don't care if they move them back or keep them where they were this year, just as long as they tell people where to go.
it was actually shocking to watch from 34th street and to see just how far away it was... perhaps macy's forget its main location??? I dont know but I want to see those fireworks right out of the windows by the official viewing locations.
I was among the rooftop crowd at 70 Commercial, and everyone was excited that the 4th fell on a Friday this year (and the Hasidic landlord would be unable to stand outside to collect a cover price for viewing - I shit you not). We were kind of pissed off since from that location, you usually feel as though you're underneath the fireworks. I bet it was a landlord to landlord conspiracy!
As a Chicago resident, but someone who does know what Stuyvesant Town is, I was surprised by this too. I only watched for a few minutes, but saw Stuyvesant Town on the screen several times, without any mention of any of the other filming locations. Thanks for clearing that up!
It's Macy's fireworks show and they can put it wherever the hell they want. If you didn't check the paper or the internet for the location before heading out to see them, it's your own fault.
Likewise, NBC is a private company that can promote whatever the hell they want. They could do the whole broadcast from inside Stuyvesant Town and spotlight available units and neighborhood amenities. They sure use the network to promote the sh*t out of Rockefeller Center. And they use the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to plug every show on their network.
Why is this even noteworthy?
Yes, Macy's can move their fireworks anywhere they want it. But I didn't see the change until Friday morning -- too late to call off our party. I've seen it before and didn't care but our guests which included some people who were here for their first Independence Day could not see anything and were very disappointed. Macy's should have publicized the move sooner.