4th of July Celebration and Waterfalls Art Project in New York City

My husband and I went to downtown Manhattan on the 4th of July to enjoy some of the holiday festivities, and to watch the Macy's fireworks display from his office building that evening.

After we parked our car we saw some of New York City's police receiving their orders for holiday crowd control. (all photos click to enlarge)

We walked along the East River towards South Street Seaport. The building on the left is where my husband works, and the elevated structure in front is part of the FDR highway that will be closed to traffic to allow the large crowds to gather on it to watch the fireworks that are launched from a large barge in the East River.
Already crowds are gathering at South Street Seaport, one of the viewing areas for the two different locations for the Macy's fireworks displays.
We also viewed a new public art project called "The New York City Waterfalls," which are four man made recycled water waterfalls conceived by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, which range from 90 to 120 feet in height, and will run from June 26 to Oct. 13, each day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Below is the one between Piers 4 and 5 near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

The next one is located near the north shore of Governors Island.
The next one we saw was at Pier 35, just north of the Manhattan Bridge.
The next three photos are of the waterfall located at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.


The waterfalls look so refreshing, don't they?

We then walked along a holiday street fair at Water Street, where there were many food vendors and concessions.

We decided to have dinner at Carmine's Italian Seafood restaurant on Front & Beekman Street.

This little restaurant is over 100 years old and has an unpretentious, old time ambiance.

Their zuppa di pesce (fish stew) served over linguini was delicious!

Here are some different views of the seaport as the evening approached, and the crowds grew.

Luckily, the building where my husband's company is located was open, and we were able to go inside to view the fireworks from a company conference room whose windows faced the East River and the fireworks barge.

This was our view looking east towards the South Street Seaport piers and the Brooklyn Bridge. It is about 7:30 PM, and already the crowds are amassing on the elevated street to get a good viewpoint of the fireworks barge.
The fireworks began at almost 9:30 and lasted a half hour. They were spectacular, although my photos taken through the conference room windows came out blurry If you'd like to see some more views of the 2008 NYC Macy's fireworks you can go to the
New York Times fireworks slide show, or watch a nice YouTube video of them here

I hope everyone enjoyed a happy and safe holiday!