sneekyjesus

I'm hoping to avoid some crowds if possible, or park my car faraway and bike on a bikepath if there is one. Can any locals throw me some info?

Rhystic

I'm sure the empire state observatory wont be to crowded ; No but in all honesty I do remember being able to catch it from red hook; it was a bit far, so if you need to see the details of every firework youd prob want some binocs maybe, but it was not crowded at all when I was there (2-3 years back) and for me I was content with what I saw; girlfriend thought otherwise though :\. Theres also plenty of rooftops in that area that you can get to without security hassle of apartment buildings in that area (though I dont reccomend doing this at random just for safety reasons ).

roadiejorge 

I'm pretty sure you won't get much of a view from Red Hook since it will be over the Hudson between the 20s and 50s so I'd try and get the ferry into Weehawken and pick a spot along River Road where the ferry terminal is located. Boulevard East at the top of the Palisades should be great too, keep in mind both avenues will be closed to vehicular traffic from 4pm to midnight. I'm not sure where you're coming from so you can either ride your bike and take it across the ferry (39th st terminal) or ride across the GWB and make a right on to River Road right from the NJ side of the bridge.

avduka

Blvd. East is where its at! There is going to be large crowds and parking will be very very hard to find.
They will close the whole st and they usually have vendors selling all kinds of things. I just read that this year they will have fireworks on the Hudson River instead of East River, as they usually do. So that means we will have a front row seating in NJ.
Views from Blvd East are spectacular!
If you need any more info let me know I will check this thread again.
It usually takes me about an hour to bike into the city over GWB to the west village area from West New York, NJ. Very easy ride and it should be a lot of fun.

roadiejorge 

West New York will be a great place to view as well, and if you live on Blvd East even better. I'm up in North Bergen but get a full view of the city since I'm on Blvd East so if the crowds get too packed we'll just watch from our windows.

Stacy

According to Streetsblog the Hudson RIver Park portion of the Greenway wll close around 4:30 pm July 4th and won't reopen to bikes till the wee hours of July 5th. UGH!

vincentnyc

but from what st. to what st. on the hudson greenway? is it all the way from battery park to washington height? i guess biking to the firework show (at least on the manhattan side) is out of the question huh?

Stacy

According to Streetsblog " Starting at 4:30 on July 4th, the bikeway will be closed from 14th Street to 68th Street. It's expected to re-open in the wee hours of July 5th, after the cleaning wraps up."

I'd imagine you could ride your bike to the Greenway but once you're there you'll probably have to walk. If you're going onto a crowded pier they may ask you to chain your bike up elsewhere... like inside Chelsea Piers.

vincentnyc

how about the west side highway...i heard they will closed out the west highway for peds...would bike be allowed on it too? also where are the all the entry points (waiting on line with all the other ppl)?

Stacy

https://www1.macys.com/campaign/sitel...ks/viewing.jsp

vincentnyc

rode to the firework today...got there an hour before the show...but most of the entry points were already closed...the po po didn't let any1 in. so find a nice spot outside on 61th st. and 11th ave...only able to see 1 barge...but not too bad...all in all...i said it was worth it.

dendawg

We walked over last night. We were surprised to see that the West Side Highway had been closed off so we entered at 72nd St and got a nice spot at 70th St. It wasn't very crowded up there and you could see all 6 barges looking down the river! Despite the warnings we saw lots of people with back packs, lawn chairs and even drinking what looked like wine out of plastic cups. It was a great show even if the traffic in my neighborhood sucked that night.

Stacy

Backpacks? I did a pre-fireworks ride along the Greenway up to the GWB. There were a fair number of people with shopping carts who got there early to stake out a space, and maybe do a little camping?

Fort Washington Park was probably more crowded than I had ever seen it. It was like standing room only for barbecuing, etc.

vincentnyc

Wow...look like u got a great view. I heard about 72nd but didn't want to get up there and not get a view cuz the firework was best view bt. 20th and 50th st. Where were u at 70th? What ave. No po po were present, they didn't close off the st.?

dendawg

We were up on the West Side Highway which had been closed at 96th St. Plenty of police presence as they closed the highway, but people had even walked their bicycles up there. We got there around 8:45, and it looked like they were moving the barges further north, as they made all the boats move.

vincentnyc

so any1 know if the west side highway is permanent or they moving back to the east side next year? if east side, any recommendation for a person with a bike who arrive half an hour before the show starts w/o waiting in line with all those ppl?

Commando303

The east side is much less accessible than is the west, and I'd recommend leaving the bike at home if you want to see a show there.