Bikeguy

First of all, the fireworks themselves were fine.

Went to the fireworks show with my wife, sister and 5 kids ages 5 to 11 (from my sisters and my families).

On the NYC side at least, everyone is herded into pens for safety. I'm fine with that. However, all the pens are behind trees planted to beautify the shoreline. You are not allowed in front of the trees. So, everyone has an obstructed view. Lovely.

You are told to get there early and that there will be limited toilet facilities. We got there at 6 PM for 9:20 fireworks. The "limited toilets"meant none.

Of course, two of the kids needed to go. We ask the police guarding out pen whether we will be allowed back in. They say "If you have family in here, yes."

We believe them. Silly of us to believe the officer, I guess.

We take the two kids to the bathroom and upon returning make it to within 50 feet of the pen. We are told the pen is now full and we are not allowed in. I explain we have 2 blankets laid out and my sister won't allow strangers on the blankets, so I know there is room for us, plus my 5 year old daughter is there and the other policeman told us we would be allowed back in.

NYPD Seargent guy says "No way." At least he was professional.

I heard others ask to be allowed with their families as well get smart aleck answers, including "you can try to cross the barrier, but you'll get stomped on by 40 officers" after they had been told they would be united with their families.

There were at least 100 people leave because they needed to use the bathroom and their were no facilities. They were told they couldn't come back.

Luckily reached my sister by cell phone 1/2 hour before the show to tell her we were stopped on a street leading to the road along the river.

The timing was important, because NYPD then shut down all cell service until after the fireworks were over.

All I want is the truth or say "you may have an obstructed view, there may be no bathrooms, you may or may not be allowed back in with your family".

And no smart alec answers from the other cops. Complete lack of professionalism.

Did not meet expectations and the only way I'd consider seeing the fireworks again is from the New Jersey side.

If you are planning on going, there is another thread of how if you pay $75 a person, you can watch from a pier and get free hamburgers. Paying $600 for the 8 of us to see the fireworks wasn't an option.

I'd love to hear from anyone on the New Jersey side whether it was a better experience or not.

Landing Gear

How did they do that? How do you know they did that?

Bikeguy

We had driven down in a van. My sister tried to call to figure out where we'd meet after the fireworks and saw there was no signal. This was right after I had told her I couldn't get back in. She asked a nearby cop if he knew what had happened to her signal. The cop said all cell service was cut either by NYPD or per NYPD request.

IEDs are sometimes triggered remotely by cell phones.

Analise

Next year, hopefully, they'll return the Independence Day fireworks to the East River so we can enjoy them from the comfort of our roof! This year, we'll wait for the subsequent evenings of fireworks on the East River and head upstairs. ^

Landing Gear

Except, first, you have to bring in the IED.

And if the cop said the NYPD was exempt from Miranda you'd believe that too?

Cutting the cellular service from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile would have required a spectacular effort and not gone unnoticed. Numerous cell towers, probably on both sides of the Hudson, would have to be shut down. Jamming cellular signals is illegal.

While Commissioner Kelly, I suppose, might wish for that power, he doesn't have it.

Coolers

Would this be a bad time for me to point out that the view from Hoboken was spectacular?

There was a police presence who performed bag checks in some areas, but the crowds were very manageable. Still got a great view even though my dinner ran late and I arrived 10 minutes before the show started.

Bikeguy

Sounds like a fantastic experience.

Just the feedback I was looking for.

Definately the way I will go next year, if the fireworks aren't moved back to the other side of Manhattan.

Thanks.

Bikeguy

Looks like you are correct.

It is on his wish list.

Just more misinformation by the oh-so-well informed, customer focused NYPD.

LINK

gfunkdave

Following this line of reasoning, we should also immediately ban all sales of cars, since people sometimes get run over by them.

Blumie

My GF and I walked west on 27th St. When we hit 11th Avenue, we were told we had to go uptown. We wanted to go downtown. The cops said no. We said, "but we live on 24th St." The cop said ok, if we had ID to prove we lived there. I still have my Mass DL, and my GF still has her Florida DL, but my fast thinking GF wipped out our New York Times showing a 24th St adress. The cop let us through. Of course he completely missed that we lived at 24th St and 6th Avenue!

That said, we still almost got penned in on 24th St between 11th and 12th, but were able to find egress onto 12th Ave, where we watched (and picnicked) from the northbound lanes of 12th Ave. We finally met our match when we tried to cross over 12th Ave. -- we could find no way to do it -- so we had to watch the fireworks from behind the trees, as the OP points out.

We had a good time, but it's not something we'd do again.

Landing Gear

While the NYPD is not perfect, indeed far from it, they do a pretty good job. Right now, here in Brooklyn, there is a massive mobilization searching for a missing nine year old boy. I am confident they are making a superb effort.

[Edited to add: Sadly, eight-year old Leiby Kletzky was found dead. NYPD detectives arrested a suspect within 48 hours of his abduction. From the New York Post: Hunt for Leiby ends in horror; creep confesses.]

infamousdx

Yea my sister and bro-in-law live in West New York / Edgewater right next to the Port Imperial ferry so we had prime seats away from the unwashed masses () right on the walkway area. It is a LOT better on the Jersey side now that they do it on the Hudson.

fflier_9999

Realistically, this is why most folks who live in New York find someone's apartment or rooftop to see them from. I've lived here for 20 years, and I've never once wanted to go down to the river to watch them. No thank you.

Analise

Yup.

SylviaCaras

Are these the Macy's sponsored fireworks that I watch on television (in California)?

This year the television program producer inserted in the upper right corner of the screen a sticky LIVE! box and beside it a bright yellow sparkler which twinkled and shone at such a demanding rate that it attracted my eye away from the fireworks. (I could have masked it off on my screen, but changed the channel instead.)

Sylvia