VIDEO: Domino Park’s first Fourth of July celebration sparks Brooklyn tradition

July 5, 2018 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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A Brooklyn Fourth of July tradition was born Wednesday night when fireworks over the East River lit up the sky and faces of thousands of revelers spread out over the newly opened Domino Park.

With the Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks returning yet again to the East River this year and the Williamsburg park having just opened last month, the spot was primed to attract hordes of people with its clear views of the 25-minute show.

The actual pyrotechnics may have been over Manhattan, but the party was in Brooklyn. Crowds began showing up hours before the 9:25 p.m. display with kids frolicking through the colored fountains and adults stretched across the lawns.

When the show began, people rushed as close to the edge of the 5-acre esplanade as possible to view more than 75,000 shells launch from seven barges docked just north of the park.

The park has been a popular spot in the neighborhood since it opened on June 10 as part of Two Trees Management’s redevelopment of the Domino Sugar Refinery.

The show was the largest Macy’s firework display since 2000, with 25 colors and effects, including a rainbow-colored explosion that proved to be a crowd pleaser.

This was the fourth year in a row the fireworks returned to the East River after previously firing off from the Hudson River for five years.