Monday, July 4th, 2011

The Annual Macy’s Fireworks Show returns to the Hudson River tonight for the third year in a row. This year’s show, with the theme “Gift Of Freedom,” will pay special tribute to the Statue Of Liberty, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary. The show starts at 9:00 pm and runs for about 25 minutes.

DNAinfo had an article last week detailing some of the top spots to watch the show. Unfortunately, I’m a bit late in posting this and many of the ticketed events mentioned are now sold out. Still, the article lists a few free spots to watch from that you might find interesting.

As I mentioned in May, 2010 was my first year watching from the West Side, after years of living in the East 30s with a direct view of the Macy’s barges from my apartment. I gather “prime” viewing for the Hudson River show is between the West 20s and 50s, but you have to arrive super-early and deal with major crowds.

Last year the MyUpperWest Gal and I made our way down to the Hudson River Greenway around 8:20 pm and didn’t have too much difficulty finding a spot with a “plenty good enough” views to stand in. We entered via the Boat Basin and walked south to Pier I, where it was a total zoo. The pier itself had restricted access (I think for VIP or paid ticket-holders), so we turned back north and settled somewhere in the low-70s. If you plan on bringing chairs or grabbing one of the few benches on the Greenway, you’ll have to arrive much, much earlier. But if you’re like me and have no desire to spend your day camping-out for fireworks, rest assured there’s still plenty of standing room available if you can get down there by about 8:30 or so (or at least there was last year). My advice is to enter Riverside Park somewhere between 79th and 72nd and grab the first standing-room spot you find. You can probably see things from the 80s and north as well, but I can’t vouch for that first-hand.

Of course, if you don’t like crowds or humidity, you can always stay in, order delivery, and flip on NBC…

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Tags: 2011 Macy's New York Fireworks, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Hudson River, Hudson River Greenway, Independance Day, New York City, NYC, Upper West Side, UWS