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Photos: Here's What The First Night Of "Surprise" Fireworks Looked Like
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 30, 2020
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 30, 2020
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The official week of five-minute-legal-firework-displays-happening-at-undisclosed-locations-at-undisclosed-times-throughout-the-city-as-to-better-"delight"-people-already-on-edge-from-months-of-living-during-a-pandemic-and-weeks-of-enduring-illegal-fireworks-at-all-times-of-day has begun! The first salvo in this year's Macy's 4th Of July fireworks extravaganza happened just before 10 p.m. on the East River off of Long Island City on Monday night, and in Coney Island.
Some people were truly delighted by it, in spite of the much-mocked surprise plan.
Others...not so much.
While the LIC fireworks got more attention, possibly due to the news of the location coming out at 7 p.m., Macy's also snuck in a second display at Coney Island, which you can see below.
Fireworks at Coney Island on June 29th, 2020
Macy's will be doing the brief, unannounced fireworks displays in each borough all week, culminating in a two-hour 4th of July television special on Saturday, showing all five displays along with a tribute to health care workers and first responders, plus "something very special" at the Empire State Building.
The locations and times of each display will not be revealed until shortly before they are set to begin—according to Macy's, this is to discourage crowds gathering, and there will be "geographically targeted notifications issued by the City to residents in the vicinity of each display shortly before they commence." Last night, the announcement happened around 8 p.m. via Notify NYC, so check that account later today to find out if your neighborhood is currently being gifted with legal fireworks, or just the regular old illegal ones.
And if you spot the fireworks in your area, you can share your photos and video to [email protected].
Tagged
4th of july
Macy's 4th of July Fireworks
fireworks
long island city
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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