Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Celebrating Freedom Isn't Free: Front-Row Fireworks Seats In Public Park Are $200
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 27, 2012
Modified Jun 27, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Macy's
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 27, 2012
Modified Jun 27, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Fireworks are for closers—you know, successful Americans who through hard work or inheritance deserve a better view of a celebration of the foundation of an egalitarian society than others. This is why the Friends of the Hudson River Park are charging $200 a ticket (just $100 for kids!) for "Front Row" seats on Pier 84 during this year's display.
“This is a very, very small amount of the whole, so this should not prevent anyone from being able to watch the fireworks," Madelyn Wils, the president and CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust tells the Times. Indeed, you won't notice the "family entertainment, music, food, and beverages" that the ticketholders will enjoy, if you stare at the ground, away from the fireworks. If you don't see it, it's not happening!
And the Hudson River Park needs the cash: the money the park receives from the city and state has dropped from $42 million to $7 million in recent years. “There are a lot of people who use the park, so we are basically introducing the idea that if you love the park the way the park loves you, then help support the park," Wils says. "It’s not a new idea, but it’s new for us.” Precisely. This dates back to Thomas Jefferson out-bidding everyone else to write the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln winning a silent auction for a chance to emancipate the slaves, the huddled masses paying bribes to leave Ellis Island [pdf] and Neil Armstrong donating Marilyn Monroe's time to the president for a first crack at the moon.
“Any time you section off or privatize or limit access to the general public, it’s against the grain of what a public park is supposed to be,” City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito gripes. Oh, relax. There will be plenty of spaces to stretch out on the soft, grey pavement of the West Side Highway, where police will direct the "throngs" of people to sit. Or you can always check out these sweet "digital fireworks" in Times Square, which are free if you can escape the skeletal remains of Francis Scott Key, who will be personally murdering anyone who looks at them.
Tagged
fireworks
freedom isn't free
Hudson River Park
july 4
macy's
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
Published Oct 17, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. ET
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .