As an non-American, my first impression of 4th of July dated back to 1996 when the movie "Independence Day" (ID4) came out. I had very little knowledge about America at that time consider I was only 10...It was a very cool movie as I remembered. I also remember thinking to myself, why does aliens always attack America? Luckily, there is always a hero to save the planet, at least in the movies.
After 11 months being in the US, it's finally time for 4th of July, the national day of the United States. July 2nd of 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence. 2 days later on July 4th, the nation declared independence from Great Britain, the United of America was then born.
Since most of my cultural understanding of American and English language come from movies and shows, my impression of 4th of July is: B.B.Q and fireworks. And yes, that was exactly what I got on my very first 4th July in America.
My friends and I headed down to Brooklyn to have a B.B.Q at friend's backyard. There was tons of food, burgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, chips, drinks, beers. The impression of an American B.B.Q from movies appear to be correct judging by this experience!
This year is the 36th annual Macy's 4th of July fireworks. The fireworks were on the Hudson River which is the river between New Jersey and Manhattan, between 43rd street and 18th street. There were several locations you can see the fireworks. You can stay in Manhattan by the Hudson river, for example: Riverside Park South, Hudson River Park (Pier 84, 54), West Side Highway..and just anywhere along the Hudson river. But no matter where you go, there would be TONS of people.
You can PAY to go up to some roof-top bars to see the fireworks. They tend to charge you a lot more to get in, but if you have the money and would like to have a good spot and not get stuck in sweat with thousands of other people, that might be a good option. Place like Hudson Terrence would guarantee you a very nice view of the fireworks.
Another paid option is to get on cruise/boats on the Hudson River. You can check out Cruise Line, NY Waterway tours or World Yacht Dinner Cruise to see if they have tickets, but again, they are pricey. There was also a Pier 83 Rooftop Fireworks BBQ which costed $79 but tickets were sold out days before the July 4th.
If you would like to to see the fireworks AND the Manhattan skyline, you would need to go to New Jersey like my friends and I did. We chose to go to Hoboken which is right across the Hudson River in New Jersey. We took the Path to Hoboken, it was only a 10 minute ride from 14th street station and the Path was way cleaner and nicer then NYC subway. We got to Hoboken around 8:30pm, it was already packed. All the spots right in front of the river were already taken. Luckily we still got a good spot.
Fireworks finally started around 9:35pm which was a little later than they announced, 9:20pm. But it was all worth it!!! It was one of the best fireworks I've ever seen. The Macy's fireworks featured more than 40,000 shells exploding at a rate of more than 1,500 per minute and fireworks reaching heights of 1,000 feet in the air.
At the Manhattan side, there was big concert and celebration going on, Katy Perry was performing. The song "Fireworks" seemed very timely and appropriate for this event.
The fireworks went on for about 25 minutes, there were the classic gold, red, green blue ones, there were also come combination color for 4th of July, red, blue and white. I really enjoyed the fireworks.
Fireworks are one of those things you hope they never end but you know they will, at some point. They are also one of those things you know they look pretty much the same every time but you are just so excited about to see them, at least I am!!!
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