Macy's NYC July 4 Fireworks 2019: Viewing Spots, Start Time

NEW YORK, NY — At least 70,000 fireworks will light up the night sky over the East River on July 4 to create the country's largest celebration of its 243rd birthday.

Millions of viewers will watch in awe from the banks of the waterway and from vantage points in apartments and on city rooftops. Millions more will view the spectacle from their TV sets at home as the colorful pyrotechnics are fired off from the Brooklyn Bridge and four barges positioned along the shores of Pier 17, starting at approximately 9:20 p.m.

This year's 25-minute spectacle will see the fireworks travel up to 1,600 feet skywards.

The show will be put together by 60 pyrotechnicians. According to Macy's, viewers should keep their eyes peeled for this year's showpiece elements, including: Wolf Whistle, Little Snakes, Hidden Happy Faces, Revolving Dragons and Multicolor Meteor Mines.

“We are excited to once again work with our partners in the City of New York to make the iconic Brooklyn Bridge the star of our show," said Susan Tercero, the executive producer of Macy's 4th of July Fireworks.

"With a barrage of stunning shells and effects launching from its grand span and towers, along with tens of thousands more effects coloring the night from barges on the lower East River, this year’s display promises to be a spectacle to remember.”

The Macy's Fireworks event first took place in 1976 and has grown in size and splendor in the year's since. The last time the Brooklyn Bridge served as a launchpad for the fireworks was in 2014.

For 2019, Macy's Fireworks will be celebrating American culture by featuring music from some of America's most well known film scores, according to its website. The complete list of entertainers for the event is not yet released, but Jennifer Hudson is set to perform "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with the orchestra from Hollywood Scoring.

The official viewing points for the 2019 show are:

Broad Street & Water Street

Pearl Street & Dover Street

Robert F. Wagner Sr. Place & St. James Place

Pearl Street & St. James Place

Montgomery Street & Cherry Street

Access to the Lower Promenade with the following entry points:

Pike Slip & Cherry Street

Market Street & Cherry Street

Make sure to arrive as early as possible if you want to secure a stellar spot for prime viewership as areas will become crowded.

More information on this year's fireworks display can be found here.

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