New York City: 4th of July and Fireworks

The first time I celebrated 4th of July in New York City was back in 2017, and I was very excited about it. A couple of years ago, I was in Las Vegas for the 4th of July, but I missed the fireworks completely, as I was busy eating pizza and drinking beer.

I didn’t want that to happen again, especially since the Macy’s fireworks display in NYC is the biggest in the country, and this year, it was supposed to be bigger than ever. I therefore Googled around and found out that the fireworks would be launched from East River around 9:30pm. Based on that, Tina and I decided that Avenue C next to Stuy Town would be a good place to watch the show.

Before the fireworks, we went for dinner at Fat Buddha in East Village. We got caught up in good food and happy hour drinks, so it was after 9pm, before we made it down to our predetermined spot.

Except for some oooh-ing and aaahhh-ing when the most beautiful pieces went off, people were remarkably quiet. No dancing in the street, no spontaneous hugging of strangers and, to my surprise, almost no American flags. I myself had been considering whether to wear something red, white and blue, but I’m happy that I didn’t, as I would have been the odd one out. I only saw one man with a flag that evening, and he was walking so fast I didn’t get a photo of him.

Some of my friends warned me that the fireworks in NYC might be a bit underwhelming compared to what I had previously seen in Asia and Dubai, but I didn’t really care. To me, it wasn’t so much about the fireworks, but more about experiencing the atmosphere, and taking part in such a big event. Of staring at the same bursts of colors in the sky and of getting a taste of this very American celebration. I wasn’t disappointed.