Roosevelt Islander Online: Scenes Before, During & After Roosevelt Island Macy’s July 4 Independence Day Fireworks Celebration, Spectacular Views From FDR 4 Freedoms Park & Roosevelt Island Bridge, Large Crowds Leaving After Fireworks At Tram And Subway But Handled Well By RIOC And NYPD

Roosevelt Islander Online: Scenes Before, During & After Roosevelt Island Macy’s July 4 Independence Day Fireworks Celebration, Spectacular Views From FDR 4 Freedoms Park & Roosevelt Island Bridge, Large Crowds Leaving After Fireworks At Tram And Subway But Handled Well By RIOC And NYPD

Roosevelt Island was a spectacular place to watch the Macy’s July 4
Independence Day Fireworks Celebration last evening.

The
FDR 4 Freedoms Park
was a prime viewing location

The Roosevelt Island Bridge had great views of the fireworks too.

Watch video of the full fireworks show seen from the Roosevelt Island Bridge

and FDR Four Freedoms Park

I was told that by 8 PM, approximately 4800 people entered through the
Sportspark checkpoint 

to either the Cornell Tech campus 

or FDR Four Freedoms Park. 

After the fireworks there was a long line of visitors leaving Roosevelt Island
at the Tram and F subway station. The subway line was gone in about 30 minutes.
Don’t know about the Tram but have not heard of any issues. 

Jexas Teff
has it right:

Props to all the men and women in uniform who spent their holiday working a
double to ensure everyone else got to have a safe and fun night! and so
does 

YRB Magazine:

yes indeed. Was definitely a fun and safe experience thanks to them!

Good job by Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC),
NYPD
and
NYCEM Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers with crowd control and keeping folks safe for the July 4
celebration.

Still to be questioned and answered are the issues regarding RIOC online
lottery registration ticketing process and distribution of tickets outside of
that process.

As reported July 3, I asked RIOC Public Information Officer Amy Smith:

… I think most  people understand the need to limit ticket capacity
for health and safety concerns.

What gets residents upset is that the online ticket registration process is
sold out after 2 minutes and that no process was set up to give Roosevelt
Island residents priority for the tickets as has been done every year in the
past.

Any comment from RIOC on that issue?

Also:

How many total tickets were available for the July 4 FDR Park Fireworks
viewing online registration today?

RIOC said on Monday there were 1500 tickets but the Eventbrite
registration page said only 1100 tickets were available.

Which number is accurate? Why are the numbers different?

Also, are there any tickets distributed through sources other than the
online registration process? Does FDR Park, NY State or any other entity
have an allotment of tickets?

If yes, how many tickets and what are those other sources?…

No response yet from RIOC. 

I’ve been told that tickets (number currently unknown) were given to the
Roosevelt Island Disabled Association, Carter Burden Roosevelt Island Senior
Center and Roosevelt Island Seniors Association for distribution to their
members. In my view, nothing wrong with RIOC giving tickets to these groups
but RIOC should be transparent about what groups and individuals are receiving
tickets outside of the lottery process.

Here are scenes before, during and after the Roosevelt Island July 4 Fireworks
celebration

It was a wonderful night and felt good to be able to celebrate in a crowd
after the past year of Covid 19 social distancing practices.



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