Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks

Always a good time to see the Fireworks live, I am not going to argue. I have gone here only about 3 times in my entire life the last two being relatively recent. I did go since it moved to the west side, I liked the view sort of better. I arrived at 59^th street and headed to the water with the crowds of course. 59^th street area to me seemed one of the best spots to go.
This view was from 24^th street it says in the video.
*I recommend going to the show as well if you are around NY on July4th Independence Day. Honestly had a great day seeing the sights and feeling the energy from the crowd, both times did go recently. Traffic is obviously going to be bananas, have to get there early and just wait for the start of the display. It will probably take forever to get home after this with all the foot traffic going every which way when it is over but totally worth the effort of going.

Really thankful the fireworks were being held on the Hudson again as I live on the Hudson side of Manhattan. As the previous review wrote, it’s best not to go to Hell’s Kitchen or Chelsea. Actually, going south is probably even better though. The West Village piers, Pier 40, etc. (at to the end of Christopher St.), all the way even to the Tribeca area that sticks out into the Hudson make a decent place to watch from.
I thought the show this year was rather tame, and not really too exciting, however. Perhaps with the economic situation as it is Macy’s scaled back a bit?

With all the conversations that go on in regards to the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks, it would be probably a good idea to actually add it to be reviewed.
So for both years 2009 and 2010, the fireworks were displayed over the Hudson River, much to the chagrin of Queens and Brooklyn tax payers. However, it’s an amazing show, and if you’re in New York for Independence Day, I highly recommend seeing the show live, if you know where to go.
If you read the signs on the subway, all of them tell you to go to Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea to view the fireworks. Well, you can go there if you want to feel like a tourist and then practically get trampled on the way back. Plus, there are so many people, you’re not guaranteed to get a good view.
My recommendation: find a friend with roof access in Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen or even the lower part of the Upper West Side. You’ll get a great view. If you want to be right along the water, the West Side Highway is closed off to cars and they let people up there. I know for sure you can access the highway from an on ramp at 72^nd Street. If you want to go to Riverside Park, Pier-​I is open and serving food and the pier is open as well. However, they close off the entrance to Riverside Park at 67^th street at 8PM, so get there kind of early if you want to be along the water. If you can’t, you can stand on Riverside Boulevard, between 64 and 71^st street, which is also closed off to cars. The show starts at 9:20, so plan accordingly.
Also, make note that public restrooms are few and far between at viewing locations.
The actual fireworks show is fantastic. They light off a huge variety of fireworks and the duration is about 20 minutes. The only thing that would make the show a little better is if they were a little higher. Overall, it’s one of the best live fireworks shows I’ve ever seen.