Gothamist: A Very Stuyvesant Town Fourth of July

wwhitcher

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:13:08 -0500

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.

IvoryJive

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:17:21 -0500

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?

Tower18

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:45:12 -0500

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!

shovel

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:21:36 -0500

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!

abcohen

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:34:39 -0500

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.

Spiny

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:43:44 -0500

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.

ereene

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:52:47 -0500

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.

Spiny

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:22:09 -0500

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.

Steven

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:55:52 -0500

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.

luxliving

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:05:11 -0500

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!

Mr Mel

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:56:04 -0500

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!

joshuagallaway

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:36:38 -0500

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.

Think twice

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:28:31 -0500

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.

Art Stewel

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:57:32 -0500

They totally screwed a Queens tradition.

jenchungsgrammar

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:41:45 -0500

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.

Jen Chung

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:38:55 -0500

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?

murphguide

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:32:23 -0500

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.

ugh

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:23:14 -0500

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.

rodney

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:21:21 -0500

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.

cool

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:09:01 -0500

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!

mocanlagunas

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:50:28 -0500

How appropriate that the 4th of July is being hijacked by money and corporations... sigh... Go USA!