Best Laid Plans

Despite my anal-retentive efforts to plan every detail of our summer vacation, we were forced to find an alternate viewing location for the fireworks in New York City. The plan was to watch the show from our hotel room so we could avoid the crowds. It was only after we arrived and saw our fantastic view of the Hudson River that we discovered the show had been relocated to the East River.

I had thoroughly researched the subject. Macy’s is the annual sponsor of the fireworks show, and they launch them from three barges in the Hudson River. Based that information I booked two hotel rooms with balconies in midtown Manhattan.

I called the concierge and explained our plans to make sure we would be on the right side of the building to view the Hudson. I used Google Maps to find the hotel and preview the line of sight from the building to the river. I made the reservations and felt confident we would be able to avoid the crowds and enjoy the Fourth of July.

I don’t remember when I realized my mistake, but at some point after arriving in the City I read an online article about the fireworks. It said after five years the show organizers had decided to move the fireworks from the Hudson River to the East River. Not good…

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the geography of Manhattan, the island is flanked on either side with the Hudson River on the west and the East River on the east. Even if our hotel room (which was on the 24th floor – high enough to see over most of the other buildings) was on the other side (which I don’t think there were any) there was no way we could change rooms one day before the show.

Besides, rather than positioning the barges along the middle of the island (hence our Midtown hotel choice), they were located downtown with plans to incorporate the Brooklyn Bridge into the show. So if we were on the other side of our hotel, they show would be much further away making the fireworks look small.

So in the end we braved the crowds. Despite doing more research we weren’t really sure where to go so we took a subway down to China Town and walked until we found crowds of people heading towards the river. We joined in and ended up amongst a large crowd about a block from the river as streets were closed and there were throngs of people standing and waiting for the show.

When the show started we realized there was a large building in our way so we relocated to a playground on the other side of the building to find a partial view of the Brooklyn Bridge and the fireworks.

While it was disappointing that our Fourth of July vacation didn’t work out as planned, it was an adventure that we will all remember.

Until next week, 

Matthew Anderson, President
Milestone Marketing Associates, Inc.