NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Spectators hoping to catch a glimpse of the Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks from the FDR Drive will have to pass through metal detectors, the NYPD said Thursday as the department also announced it would shut down two East River bridges for the show.
NYPD Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes said the metal detectors will be at access points for the FDR Drive viewing area, which will run from 14th Street to 51st Street.
Access points for the viewing platform will be at 14th Street, 23rd Street, 31st Street, 34th Street, 48th Street, Holmes said.
“What were asking is that you be very mindful of what you bring to these sites. There will be detectors there, metal detectors,” Holmes said at a morning briefing with Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Everyone will be searched at these particular access points.”
Holmes noted that spectators entering the viewing areas are not allowed to bring items like backpacks, umbrellas, large coolers, lawn chairs, lawn blankets or alcoholic beverages.
In addition to the FDR Drive in Manhattan, there will also be viewing areas at the following locations in Brooklyn: Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Grand Ferry Park, Domino Park, Bushwick Inlet Park, East River State Park and Transmitter Park.
In Queens, there will be viewing areas at Gantry Plaza State Park and Hunter’s Point South Park.
The NYPD will have uniformed officers “virtually everywhere,” Holmes said. There will also be plainclothes officers, K-9 teams, the Bomb Squad, ESU, and the Harbor and Aviation units.
“On top of all this, as always, we will maintain our counterterrorism overlay,” Holmes said, noting that there were no credible threats to the celebration.
She said the NYPD would also be doing “something different this year” by closing the Williamsburg and Queensboro bridges to traffic for the event.
The NYPD will begin shutting down traffic, including on the FDR Drive, at 2 p.m. with closures going into effect at 3 p.m. Access to the entry points will be allowed at 6:30 p.m. before the fireworks show at 9:30 p.m.
At Thursday’s briefing, Dan Gross, the city’s executive director for citywide events, said that the guidance has changed for vaccination requirements in the viewing areas. The city had previously indicated that there would be areas for vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
“For the purposes of the Fourth of July fireworks viewing areas, we are going to be opening that up to those individuals that are both vaccinated and unvaccinated, with the only stipulation being if you are unvaccinated, it is strongly encouraged that you wear a mask,” Gross said. “So, we're going to be reverting back to a posture of past Fourth of July fireworks viewing areas.”
Holmes said the NYPD would not be there to enforce mask requirements.
“There will be strong deployment, but not to enforce masks. Most people are vaccinated and those that feel uncomfortable are welcome to wear masks if they like it, but that's not what we're going to be there for,” Holmes said.
Last month, de Blasio said the Macy’s fireworks display will be the “biggest” yet as a large-scale audience returns following last year’s scaled-back event for the pandemic. If you plan to watch the fireworks in person, you can only listen to the live musical score in one place: 1010 WINS.
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