Friday, August 05, 2005
Fourth of July Macy's Style
I had meant to write a lot more about my and Nian's trip to New York in early July, now that we’ve been back for a month (and Nian now off to LA and soon China) many of the events are coming unglued in my head and will be hard to chronicle with great accuracy (at least chronologically).
One event stands out that is easy to tell about and that was our viewing of the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks display and how that relates to the visit to Macy’s next day.
So as Mr. Peebody would say: Sherman set the wayback machine to July 4, 2005
Nian and I and I where still furiously exploring New York by foot and subway trying to cram as much site seeing in as our 4 day stay would allow. At this point late in the day July 4th we were in walking distance of the U.N. building having just comeback from exploring Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
As we approached the building it became evident that something was going on, which at first we assumed had something to do with the UN building as there were barriers on the street by the UN and police interacting with a small group of people walking by them. The time was about 7pm, and by the time we walked the two or three block to the corner of the UN building the small trickle of people was fast becoming a crowd. We asked what was going on to which we were informed the elevated road along the river here had been closed to traffic so that it could be used for pedestrians to view the Macy’s 4th of July fireworks display, promised to be the biggest best fireworks show n the world, or at least as described by the excited pedestrian we asked in the throng of people we had joined more by accident than by plan.
I was skeptical about waiting for the 2 hours plus before the show started, but Nian was uncharacteristically excited by the event and opined that we should investigate. We went through the security check which consisted of Nian opening her purse for a police officer to shine a flashlight in, all the while debating whether it would be worth the two hour wait. After walking for about five or ten minutes up the roadway it became apparent we had crossed the point of no return and the crush of people behind us was enormous. Had we planned on being at the dead center of the roadway would couldn’t have planned our arrival anymore accurately and somehow had been at the head of a huge wave of people that was now converging on the location like some biblical plague of locus.
We trudged along for about another 10 minutes or so, our pace slowing as the crowd around us thickened. We stopped for a short time, but then some policemen came along the barricaded free zone in front of us extolling people to keep moving and make room as there where still thousands of people arriving wishing to find a viewing spot. By about 7:30 we finally settled to a complete permanent stop, not exactly crushed by the crowd, but definitely hemmed in.
A few more questions to others nearby informed us that the show would start at 9:30 sharp, some kind of synchronized start having to do with a televised rock concert at Battery Park starting at 9pm, and lasting exactly 30 minutes.
We then hunkered in for the long wait, amusing ourselves mostly with taking cell phone photos of one another. I wasn’t able to email to Nina’s gmail.com account due to some configuration problem that I would have to sort out with Sprint later, but we did change my cell phone entry screen to a picture of Nian and I side by side.
After about an hour we began to see a small trickle of people back along the barricade zone, so evidently we weren’t as trapped as I thought, and could have opted out of viewing the fireworks. I had been wondering what would happen if someone suddenly needed to go to the bathroom as there were no port-a-potties on the roadway. Still after what was already an hour and a half wait it would have been foolish to not wait one more hour.
I doubt I would have been able to stand the wait without Nian, but while the wait was long, the conversation was pleasant, an I experimented with laying back on the bare concrete, though I had to thread myself into position between other event waiters who where in a spectrum of poses from standing to sitting to laying down.
Darkness closed in shortly after nine, and I returned to standing. Colored lights could be seen swinging back and forth along Battery Park, the rock concert underway.
9:30 arrived and no fireworks started, the man who had informed that the start would be at 9:30 sharp quickly speculated the Battery Park concert must have run over. I stated in a loud voice for all those around to hear “sorry folks, the fireworks have been cancelled, no one can find a match.” My comedic timing must have been pretty good with peals of laughter ensuing, I even heard someone say in a jovial tone somewhere a little was away “hey, did you hear what that guy just said, he said they can't find a match.” There wasn’t a long wait however and at about 9:35 the fireworks started full bore.
There were a lot of fireworks, but I won’t go into detail. Everyone around us seemed enthralled, but I felt pensive and I thought Nian looked pensive also. I find fireworks to be like popcorn. I like popcorn, but a small handful is all I need to feel satiated, while others can never get enough of the stuff.
The show ended abruptly at close to its promised 30 minute duration time. With hardly a pause the crowd turned to leave, but the slow walk soon slowed to a zombie like crawl, and then stopped all together. It then resumed fitfully, at a pace everyone clearly was unhappy with. There was a sea of people ahead of us 200 thousand perhaps; the price to pay for being first in line is being last to leave. We crawled along for close to an hour before getting to 2nd avenue and the bottleneck the police had erected to keep the flow of people from disrupting all traffic in the city. We watched some irate man with gray hair harangue police on duty for the huge delay in letting people exit the area. Whether the crowd control plan was reasonable or not (I thought it probably was) I couldn’t help thinking about what an ass the man was making of himself, and how the NYPD men in blue probably had to put of this kind of unwarranted abuse often. On the other hand their stoic faces showed no sign that he was getting to them at all.
We hadn’t eaten diner so I was fairly famished as we walked down 42nd street, I thought perhaps we wouldn’t be able to find an eatery that wasn’t filled with people, but not so. We ducked into a KFC for a quick fast food meal of chicken, though Nian definitely holds fast food in disdain, this fair could be stomached though I suppose because it wasn’t a sandwich.
We took our time eating and by the time we finished the streets were near vacant, a pleasant surprise as we made for the subway and back to our hotel a Holliday-Inn in SoHo. Before the night was over however Nian told me she was vaguely disappointed with the show. Being from China, and more specifically the Canton region, she informs me fireworks there are more spectacular than the ones we had witnessed that night. Despite the fireworks not being all one could have hoped for (though to most they were all that and more) I was still happy for the experience and to know what it is like to be in the middle of a real New York Crowd.
Stay Tuned For Part II: This is Macy’s?
