Fireworks shoot from the Jersey side once again
OK, OK … so maybe ‘eat smoke’ was harsh, but give us a break. The East River has monopolized the Macy’s Fourth of July celebrations for way too long. I know I was tired of hauling my ass to Brooklyn or South Street or wherever else, just to see some boom booms. It felt good to leave my Hoboken apartment and walk over to Sinatra Drive just a few minutes before the festivities.
Amid the oohs and aahs came the wicked stench of human nature. Seriously now people, do you really need to push and shove to get a few yards closer when the show is flickering 500 feet in the air above you? There were a few nasty words exchanged and the occasional shoving match.
My girlfriend Katherine and I ignored the chaos around us and enjoyed the night. Which, by the way, was easy to do. If you are unfamiliar with the area, Sinatra Drive follows the shoreline of the Hudson River in Hoboken, NJ. There were several great vantage points for the 2009 show. Pier A juts out into the river so that’s good. Sinatra Park also juts out about four block north of Pier A.
The problem was those two places were jam packed with gawkers. So we stuck to the street which, a few blocks north of Sinatra Park, bends out to give you another clear view. That’s where we decided to stand. Hundreds of others ran past us to get even closer. Stupid.
Anyway, I got chills from the first bursts of light. This reminded me of being a kid. When the little towns all along the Hudson had their own fireworks displays. Those days are long gone. And you can think it’s because of some conspiracy by Macy’s to control the skies on July Fourth.
Now I’m not saying there’s any truth to that, but it is odd that the few nearby towns that do still have their own displays do it on wither the third or the fifth. Hmmm.
Well, I’ll leave that debate for another day.
