June 9, 2009 | IN THE NEWS Fourth of July on the Hudson!
In 1609, the high-seas explorer Henry Hudson stumbled upon an island, where 400 years later public officials would devise a series of elaborate events and tie-ins to honor his discovery. One of the most noticeable is a plan to move the nation’s largest Fourth of July fireworks from the East River to the river bearing his name.
The news, quietly announced last week by Macy’s and noted on the NewYorkology blog, has some city residents wondering whether all this celebration of Mr. Hudson has finally gone too far.
Many of those skeptics, by the way, happen to live or work along the East River, the dividing central corridor of the city and home to the annual Macy’s fireworks show for the last 15 years (although in 2000 there were displays on both rivers).
“It’s a huge day, the biggest of the year,” said Jon Bloostein, owner of the Heartland Brewery, near the South Street Seaport, when told of the move. “The only thing we’ll have going for us now is people who go to the East River by mistake.”
Beyond business considerations, Mr. Bloostein said the East River, which whisks among Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, is “more New York” than the Hudson River, which he noted is lined on one side with “people from New Jersey.”
Growing ever bigger, louder and more sophisticated at the frenzied pace of a military arms race, the Macy’s fireworks display made its debut in 1958 on the Hudson River. Over the years launch sites have moved from off the Upper West Side, to Governor’s Island, before settling on the East River.
This year’s event calls for a 26-minute barrage of 40,000 firework shells fired from six barges between 24th Street and 50th Street on the West Side, according to the press release issued by Macy’s.
The Brooklyn borough president, Marty Markowitz, said in a statement that he would urge Macy’s to split the fireworks show between the East and Hudson Rivers.
Barring that compromise, a loss for Brooklyn and Queens would be New Jersey’s gain. That may go some way to repairing some of the division of recent years between New Jersey and New York on a day of supposed national unity.
Over the past several Independence Days, Jersey City has held a dueling, much smaller, firework show partly in response to a perceived snub from Macy’s. In 2007 the dispute escalated after New York City fire officials refused to allow Jersey City to have fireworks over the Hudson River, invoking an 1834 treaty signed by President Andrew Jackson that gives New York jurisdiction over its surrounding waters. Jersey City staged the event on land.
The mayor of Hoboken, David Roberts, said in past years the fireworks could be partially viewed from his city by peering through the Manhattan skyline. This year the fireworks will be directly overhead.
“We’re very excited about it,” he said. “Thousands of New Jersey residents and I bet a couple of New York residents will get a better view from our side.”
By A. G. Sulzberger for the New York Times
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