NEW YORK—What a great day to celebrate independence! The Statue of Liberty is open again, One World Trade Center stands 1776 feet tall, and the weather forecast is all in favor of barbecues, beach trips, and picnics.
Four barges loaded with pyrotechnics are ready on the Hudson River for America’s biggest fireworks display, which will begin at 9:25 p.m. But before the sun begins to set, and the skies dim for the grand spectacle, New Yorkers and tourists alike embrace a long awaited day of leisure: some sleeping late, some joining friends and family at cookouts and barbecues, and some rising early and hopping onto chilly subway cars, Coney-Island-bound.
Those without plans yet, despair not! The lists below are filled with things to see and do in New York City on America’s national day.
A fun fact to entertain your friends: Americans eat close to 150 million hot dogs on July 4th, enough to stretch from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles more than five times. A third of them come from Iowa.
And an eerie one: Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after signing the Declaration of Independence.
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Make sure to secure a space to see the fireworks—for this year’s show promises to be the best, and most innovative yet.
Macy’s Inc. collaborated with R&B and hip-hop star Usher to put together a musical score to accompany an array of fireworks which New York has never seen before: Portuguese bee-shaped flashes in countless colors, purple butterflies, pulsating hearts, dazzling diamonds, Japanese-style Nishiki Crowns, and much, much more.
In the meantime, stay tuned for updates from around the city, stories of New Yorkers and visitors, photos, videos, and more.
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