At 1 PM today, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) opened online ticket registration for July 4 Fireworks viewing celebration tickets at the FDR 4 Freedoms Park. Last Monday, RIOC announcd that 1500 tickets would be available and added yesterday:

It’s almost time to reserve your tickets!
Registration for the Roosevelt Island Fourth of July Family Fireworks
Celebration will be opening tomorrow, Wednesday, June 30th, at 1 PM.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to register for advanced tickets.
Tickets will open to the general public the same day at 4 PM.

By 1:03 PM today, tickets were no longer available. 

I asked if residents received tickets. Among the responses:

• Who do these tickets go to? I logged on at 12:59 to check and it said it wasn’t available yet. When I logged on exactly at 1pm, and clicked register it said the tickets were no longer available.
• Smells fishy, or at least not well executed. No way these tickets went to residents only.
• they were open to the public! And again they were advertised on social media! I don’t understand, theses off island folks do not spend money here! There’s no commerce, they bring their food with them, So why?
• I was able to get 2 tickets for myself and my SO. I do live on R.I., but there was no address check. I guess I was lucky. I agree it’s sad they don’t prioritize
• There is no way to prove that all those who got the tickets are residents. They didn’t ask for the address. Only email address.
• This must be a joke! My husband tried at 1:00 and got kicked off the site. At 1:02 all tickets were gone!
• Luckily we got tickets! There should have been a separate link for residents and another for the public

RIOC announced at 2:30 PM today:

We’re sorry you missed it! Registration for the Roosevelt
Island Fourth of July Family Fireworks Celebration is now officially closed,
tickets sold out. For an alternative way of viewing the fireworks celebration
on Roosevelt Island, see details below: 

The Cornell Tech campus will be open and available to the
public as a viewing location, starting at 12 PM. 

• No ticket is needed for access but wristbands will be given
  out upon entry.
• Entrance is first-come, first-serve.
• All visitors will be subject to airport-style security.
• No entry is permitted after 9 PM. Latecomers will not be
  admitted.
• For full event details go to: rioc.ny.gov/373

 All attendees who have NOT been vaccinated against COVID-19
are reminded to kindly wear a mask throughout the event. 

Please be sure to review our Prohibited Items list for the
event at: rioc.ny.gov/588 and stay tuned for further July 4th guidance about
island transportation, closures, and other important updates. 

Upon any potential safety concerns or overcrowding, we
reserve the right to limit access to Roosevelt Island and the fireworks viewing
locations. Thank you.

I asked RIOC Public Information Officer Amy Smith:

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?

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

Will update when answer received.