Jersey City's 4th of July Celebration

[JCMAN320]

FIREWORKS, CONCERT, & BIKE MESSENGER RACE HIGHLIGHT JERSEY CITY’S 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND FESTIVITIES

JERSEY CITY, NJ - This year, the City of Jersey City will be hosting an impressive 4th of July weekend celebration. While the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks display will be the main act, a couple of “first-time” events will add to the fun and festivities.

On July 2nd & 3rd, the 13th Annual Cycle Messengers World Championship (CMWC) will be held for the first time in Jersey City. The CMWC, a world-class sporting event attracting bike messengers from around the globe, is organized by the New York Bike Messenger Foundation. Aside from the main race, other events that will be held in Jersey City over the two days include the cargo race, sprints, the bunny hop, and track events. Other parts of the competition are also being held in New York City and Brooklyn.

Another event making its debut in Jersey City is the first annual Jersey City FreedomFest, a musical celebration of American jazz, rock & blues, which will be staged in the Green Park, a section of Liberty State Park. The event is being produced by the Liberty Event Management, and features Jason Lindner, offering jazz tunes, as the opening act and John Eddie, playing “Jersey shore” rock, as the headliner.

The highlight of the evening is Macy’s 29th Annual 4th of July Fireworks, which blasts off at 9:20 pm. The half-hour long Fireworks spectacular will explode over 30,000 shells fired from a total of 7 barge configurations in three locations. The barge in Jersey City is centered between Liberty and Ellis islands. The fireworks extravaganza will have the Manhattan skyline, the Hudson River, and the Statue of Liberty serving as spectacular backdrops

Thousands of people are expected to take part in the festivities. The City urges the public to proceed early to Liberty State Park to enjoy the concert and fireworks display.

Press interested in covering the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks need a press permit from Liberty State Park. The Mayor’s press office can offer assistance.

Macy's site of where to view from Jersey City, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan
http://www.macys.com/campaign/fireworks/map_2.jsp

[JCMAN320]

Independence!
Local fireworks displays in JC, Meadowlands for July 4

By Steph Andersen
Reporter staff writer 06/26/2005

GIVE US THE WORKS! There will be several local spots to view fireworks, but plan to get there early.
During this Independence Day, pyrotechnic shells will burst into images of UFOs above Jersey City, and scores of residents will head to the State Fair in the Meadowlands to celebrate the venue's 20th anniversary.

For those hoping to view fireworks in or near Jersey City, Liberty State Park is collaborating with the annual Macy's pyrotechnic display in New York.

Between approximately 30,000 and 60,000 people are expected to visit Liberty State Park on the Jersey City waterfront, said Mary Anne Kelleher, acting director for the Division of Cultural Affairs in Jersey City.

Jersey City FreedomFest, a musical celebration of American jazz, rock and blues, will be staged in the Green Ring section of Liberty State Park from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on July 4. The show will feature Jason Linder as the opening act, followed by John Eddie playing "Jersey Shore" rock.

At approximately 9:20 p.m., the 30-minute Macy's fireworks show will begin, Kelleher said. Attendees will have the best view from the Green Ring section of the park.

Jersey City is hosting the celebration along with Macy's, and the city's part is completely funded by local businesses, she said.

Liberty Event Management is producing FreedomFest.

There will be a barge to shoot off fireworks in between Liberty and Ellis islands. Six other barges will also host the display, to allow viewing from Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, said Orlando Veras, a Macy's spokesman.

A feature recently added to Macy's show will be the U.S. Coast Guard flying over the Jersey City area, along with members of the New York Police Department flying over the East River. This is expected to occur between 7:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Don't clog the streets

Kelleher persuades viewers in Liberty State Park to plan their night accordingly.

"We encourage carpooling, public transportation through PATH and the light rail, and early arrival," she said. "The park does have limited entrances and exits, and at certain points, traffic stops."

Once again, 1010 WINS will be broadcasting music that is choreographed to the Macy's show, Veras said. "We suggest everyone tune into 1010 WINS so you can hear the music as the show is going on. If there is a particular beat and fireworks are exploding at that moment, it's done on purpose."

The American Medley of music will include the sounds of American composers, such as George Gershwin, John Williams, George M. Cohan and Irving Berlin, as well as other American standards, all performed by Skitch Henderson and The New York Pops, he said.

Skitch Henderson founded The New York Pops in 1983 to promote awareness of America's musical heritage, according to a press release. The group's headquarters is Carnegie Hall, although the orchestra tours the world and performs free concerts in New York City.

Henderson began his career by playing the piano in the 1930s, touring with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. He later worked for NBC Radio and MGM's music department.

Thirty-six thousand pyrotechnic shells will burst in the air this year, including some that have never been seen, Veras said. The new shells will burst into lemon squares and cubes, creating a geometric pattern in the sky, and others will appear like UFOs, soaring to a certain height, descending and then reversing direction.

This year Macy's will also have two special tributes, he said. One will be a salute to the Armed Forces, and a second, to the Olympic spirit.

"The signature element is always the Golden Mile," Veras said. "The shells blanket the sky with gold during the Olympic tribute."

As the biggest fireworks show in the nation, the Macy's display will be broadcast on NBC, he said. Sousa Fireworks, which has worked with Macy's for more than 20 years, was a partner in the show's creative design.

Meadowlands

At the State Fair Meadowlands in East Rutherford, which began June 23, a fireworks display will cover the sky above the Giants Stadium Fairgrounds at approximately 10 p.m. on July 3 and July 4.

The annual fair will be open from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. both days.

©The Hudson Reporter 2005

[JCMAN320]

FIREWORKS WON'T FIZZLE

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Big Apple is playing the Big Spoiler in Jersey City's planned July 4 fireworks extravaganza - and giving a history lesson in the process, according to Jersey City officials.

But the show will go on at Liberty State Park, with fireworks starting at 9 p.m., just not as originally envisioned, Jersey City officials said yesterday.

For the past three years, the Jersey City fireworks display has been shot from a barge in the Hudson River, and city officials wanted to continue in that vein this year.

But due to the "Treaty of 1834" between New York and New Jersey (yes, that's 1834), New York has "exclusive jurisdiction . over all the waters of the Bay of New York," meaning Jersey City has to ask the New York City Fire Department for permission to put a fireworks barge in the Hudson.

The FDNY didn't quite give Jersey City a fuhgettaboutit this year, but they came as close as you can without saying no, said Jersey City officials, who are convinced the FDNY is playing favorites so as to have nothing interfere with the internationally acclaimed Macy's fireworks show.

For two of the past three years, Jersey City paid Macy's between $60,000 and $75,000 to be a sponsor of the department store's show, which included a fireworks barge near the Statue of Liberty.

But this year, Macy's bowed out of putting a barge in the Hudson River once Jersey City expressed interest in hiring its own barge. And that's when the FDNY brass started dusting off ancient treaties and getting technical, according to Jersey City officials.

FDNY officials even showed up at meetings hand-in-hand with Macy's representatives, they said.

"There's always competition, but Macy's, maybe they want to be the only one on stage," said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy. "Maybe it's an ego thing."

A month ago, Jersey City officials reached a verbal deal with the FDNY they could live with. The Jersey City shoot would begin at 9 p.m., giving the FDNY 20 minutes of "cool down" time to move apparatus and personnel to the East River for the Macy's show.

But when the deal was put in writing, the terms changed, Jersey City officials said.

In a May 16 memo, FDNY Chief of Fire Prevention Thomas Jensen wrote to JCFD Deputy Chief Robert Cobb that the Jersey City shoot had to finish by 9:10 p.m., "at the latest."

Since the Jersey City show lasts about 20 minutes, it would have to start around 8:50 p.m., city officials said. On July 4, 9:15 p.m. is considered the first moment of darkness, said Maryanne Kellerher-Arango, Jersey City's director of cultural affairs. The Macy's show, for example, is due to start at 9:20 p.m.

The memo goes on to state that "pleasure crafts" in the vicinity of the Jersey City shoot couldn't move until the Macy's fireworks was over. The FDNY has to supervise and protect boats passing the fireworks barge, explained FDNY spokesman James Long.

Jersey City fire officials responded that FDNY officials keep conveniently forgetting Jersey City has its own fireboat - one that was used to help fight a vicious warehouse in Brooklyn, they point out.

Unwilling to live with FDNY's rules, Jersey City plans to shoot its fireworks from land within Liberty State Park.

[Punzie]

This was moved to Events because it addresses the NYC July 4th event. The NY Metro forum has a redirect for this thread.

[JCMAN320]

NYC's pettiness lights up the sky

Thursday, June 14, 2007

The constant rivalry between the Garden State and the Empire State hit the headlines again. This time, Jersey City wants a barge full of fireworks near Liberty State Park to celebrate Independence Day and New York, acting as a surrogate for Macy's, says its poor cousins cannot compete with the department store chain's show.

For the past three years, Jersey City's Fourth of July fireworks display has been sent up from a barge in the Hudson River, and Jersey City officials wanted to continue the practice.

The city has paid between $60,000 and $75,000 to be a sponsor of the department store's show, which included a fireworks barge near the Statue of Liberty just off Liberty State Park. Once Jersey City showed interest in hiring its own barge for less money, Macy's bowed out.

A month ago, Jersey City officials thought they had a verbal agreement with New York's Fire Department. The Jersey City celebration was to begin at 9 p.m., giving the FDNY 20 minutes of "cool down" time to move apparatus and personnel to the East River for the Macy's show.

Then the terms began to change once Jersey City decided to get a less expensive vessel to carry its fireworks. The biggest change was the demand that Jersey City had to complete its show by 9:10 so as to not compete with Macy's East River extravaganza. Unfortunately for Jersey City, the first moment of darkness begins at 9:15 p.m.

Another sticking point has been the insistence of the Big Apple firefighters that any anchored private vessels watching the Jersey City fireworks cannot move until the Macy's show ends on the East River.

Why is it that New York's Fire Department can dictate what happens off Jersey City's shoreline? It is because of a 19th century agreement between the states, and approved by Congress, that gives New York jurisdiction over the Hudson. Although the courts have noted that New York's administration of most of the river's waters are limited to "commerce and navigation," some Jerseyans say that the Big Apple has stretched that definition to cover more than what Congress intended.

Jersey City has decided to shoot off its fireworks from land - a location inside Liberty State Park. Perhaps it is time for some of the Garden State federal legislators to set off more pyrotechnics by reviewing the old river boundary pact, so that New Jersey municipalities do not have to raise their hands every time there is a plan for a river activity. Macy's can also be a signatory to any new agreement.

[OmegaNYC]

I tell ya one thing, no matter what happens between the whole JC/NYC fireworks battle, the people at LSP will be the winners. Fireworks on both sides of the Hudson! :p

[millertime83]

Where do you think the closest spot to Hoboken to watch the LSP and Macy's fireworks would be? The Light Rail was a madhouse last year.

[JCMAN320]

Hamilton Park on the cliffs of Weehawken.

[JCMAN320]

Fireworks sparkle, boom despite rain
PATRIOTS PACK THE PARK

Thursday, July 05, 2007
By N. CLARK JUDD
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

People started gathering in Liberty State Park as early as 6 a.m. yesterday to set up for a day of barbecues and ball games, keeping an eye on the ominously overcast skies on a windy Fourth of July.

But as the breeze blew the sweet smell of funnel cake from a concession stand, and the rain held off until well into the afternoon, friends and families did their best to enjoy the mid-week holiday.

Fireworks for the 31st annual Fourth of July bash were originally supposed to be set off from a barge in the Hudson River shortly before the Macy's pyrotechnics in New York, as had been the custom for three years.

But New York City - which by virtue of an almost 200-year-old treaty controls New York Bay - placed a time limit on Jersey City's fireworks display that would have required the first shell to be sent up before dusk.

"Once we heard that Macy's gave us those totally unreasonable times," said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, "we went to Plan B" - meaning a launch location inside Liberty State Park.

An estimated 100,000 people attended this year's festivities, according to Maryanne Kelleher-Arango, director of the city's Cultural Affairs Division.

Many of those interviewed said they've been coming for years, but there also were many first-timers at the state park yesterday. Some said they came across the river after spending previous years in New York.

"You can't really barbecue anywhere in New York," said Jersey City resident Frank Padilla, who had invited his brother and his family, who live in Queens, to join him. "They'll arrest you."

The Independence Day festivities also carried on in Kearny at Veterans Park despite the unfriendly weather. The Garden State Concert Band was playing for the 18th consecutive year, and there also was face-painting, pony rides, clowns and, of course, fireworks.

"This is the worst Fourth of July weather ever," said 9-year-old Sofia Reguimho, of Kearny. Despite the rain, she said she was looking forward to the fireworks.

"If it didn't rain, it would be a lot better," agreed Richard Henry, 14, of Kearny. "And it would be better to have the Fourth of July on a Friday."

Journal staff writer Patrick Villanova contributed to this report.