Our journey starts at 39th Street where we found a police blockade ushering the hordes north to 42nd Street. You could peek down the side streets toward the Hudson and see people down there... but how had they managed to get through?
We pushed on, momentarily trapped between lawn chairs and children (holding popsicles, popcorn and every other possible snack item that their sticky fingers could manage) and finally pushed on through settling on the eastern side of 11th Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets. It was 2 minutes to show time and we were ready... cameras in hand, enthusiasm abounding!
And then... BOOM! "What the hell?" Patty spun in place, looking into the sky. Another boom! And another. Soon the sky was shaking with booms, whistles, fizzes and pops. We were only one block from the river and yet the two-story warehouse that stood between us and the pyrotechnic extravaganza was exactly the right height to shield us from enjoying the majesty of the Macy's fireworks display. "Let's move!" The three of us picked up and marched on, heading toward the corner at 46th thinking maybe we could catch something and not have wasted our time.
Even from the corner we could barely see a thing. The best I could do was a raise-your-hands-in-the-air-and-snap-it-like-you-just-don't-care shot (see to the side). The "walky man" symbol was brighter and more exciting than what I was able to catch with my point and click.
FAIL again... see Image A below. But then, after deciding "Let's get outta here before the crowds start to move" we heading east on 46th Street and, suddenly, we had tons of room and a great view. In hindsight this might have been the "duh" moment of the night. But for us it was a sudden burst of genius! So we enjoyed the show from our newfound haven and then headed home satisfied that we'd had the fun we had sought out.
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| Image A: View Fail Image B: View Success |
Footage from our good point-of-view on 46th Street!
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