Many ticket holders to see the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Show from Brooklyn Bridge Park on Friday didn't make it into their zoned locations, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
While spectators in Manhattan and other locations had few complaints, many of the 100,000 people who held city-issued Brooklyn Bridge Park viewing tickets called the event a “total fiasco,” with a large number not making it onto the piers, the paper said.
Though attendees were assigned to viewing Zones 1-4, that seemed to be the end of the organizing effort, numerous ticket-holders said. Lines which wove for hours through Brooklyn Heights merged into mob scenes at the park’s entrances.
Numerous people found themselves in panic-inducing logjams while trying to get into the southern end of the park at the Atlantic Avenue entrance. Many were not allowed into the park, the paper reported.
At the northern end of the park on Old Fulton Street, many ticket holders couldn’t even get near the ticket entrance, while line-jumpers managed to pour in.
Many spectators said there appeared to be no central coordination for handling the huge crowds. The scene was described as “chaotic,” “a fiasco,” “so disappointing,” “surreal,” “incredibly disorganized,” with “crying children," the paper reported.
City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak told the Eagle on Monday, “Once again, New York City delivered the greatest Fourth of July fireworks show in the nation — with no serious injuries or violent incidents at the event. We’re grateful to the incredible men and women of the NYPD for keeping everyone safe and all our city workers for ensuring the event went off without a hitch. Naturally, when tens of thousands of people descend on one community, there will be congestion, but the reality is the overwhelming majority of ticket-holders enjoyed a safe and spectacular celebration.”
