J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum Cruising Discussions 4th of July on the East River

Hi,
does anyone have experience with watching the 4th of July fireworks from the East River? Is it feasible? Is there a place to anchor? Any other considerations?
Thanks,
Nick Dickey
J/30 Kamchatka, City Island, NY

Nick - I've only transited it. Watch the current (up to 5 knots) and traffic. There are general anchorages on the charts - Hallet's Cove north of Roosevelt Is., Flushing Bay north of Riker's Island, and near the Throgs Neck. 2003 Waterway Guide suggests the latter two, but Flushing Bay looks mostly too shallow. If the ER is anything like the Delaware on the 4th, traffic will make anchorages uncomfortable. I've been told all barge fireworks on the Arthur Kill and Raritan Bay have been cancelled due to lack of permits to transit bridges for national security. Make sure yours are still on.
Seth

Thanks, I was mostly thinking about trying to be somewhere in the vicinity of the southern tip of Roosevelt Is. As I understand, the anchoring is out of the question there, so the whole thing looks like a tiresome 6 hours trying to stay in one spot in 5 knot current.
As far as Flushing Bay goes - I anchored there many times - great spot, and the channel is deep there, you can go all the way to Shea Stadium and beyond. Too far from the fireworks though.
I don't think Macy's fireworks will be cancelled under any circumstances.