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Video & Photos of the Day: Grucci Fireworks for Chinese New Year in New York City

Posted in Events, Photo of the Day, Photography, video, tagged Chinese New Year, Fantastic Art China, February 17, fireworks, Grucci, Hudson River, Jim Levine, Lunar New Year on February 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_fISAEaF9Y&feature=youtu.be&rel=0

Happy Lunar New Year! Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year 4713, the Year of the Sheep, based on the Chinese lunar calendar. On Tuesday night, a Grucci fireworks display over the Hudson River launched a week-long celebration of Chinese art and culture in New York City. For the event schedule, visit the website Fantastic Art China. Many thanks to ATZ reader Jim Levine, who sent us his gorgeous photos and video of the fireworks.

Grucci Fireworks Spectacular on Hudson River for Chinese New Year 2015

Grucci Fireworks Spectacular on Hudson River for Chinese New Year, February 17, 2015. Photo © Jim Levine

According to the event’s organizer, the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (part of the Chinese Ministry of Culture), this is the first time in U.S. history that a large-scale fireworks show celebrated the Lunar New Year. The three-barge Grucci Fireworks spectacular employed 27 pyrotechnicians and took 972 man hours to set up. Grucci has produced the fireworks entertainment for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 60th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, as well as seven consecutive U.S. Presidential Inaugurations, and World’s Fairs.

Grucci Fireworks Spectacular on Hudson River for Chinese New Year, February 17, 2015. Photo © Jim Levine

February 17: Grucci Fireworks Spectacular on Hudson River for Chinese New Year

Posted in Events, tagged Chinese New Year, Fantastic Art China, February 17, fireworks, Grucci, Lunar New Year on February 16, 2015| 3 Comments »

Photo courtesy of Fireworks by Grucci

2016 Update: Looking for info on the February 2016 Grucci Fireworks show for the Lunar New Year? The fireworks are set for Saturday, February 6 at 8:30pm. Best viewing spots are along the Hudson River near the Circle Line on the NYC side or across the river on the New Jersey side. Download the “Fireworks by Grucci” app on your iPhone or Android and to hear music by Chinese composer Tan Dun that perfectly synchronize with the live fireworks.

On Tuesday, February 17th, there will be a three-barge Grucci Fireworks spectacular on the Hudson River in celebration of the Chinese New Year. The 20-minute show off Pier 84 (West 44th Street) is scheduled to start between 7:30-8:00pm, weather permitting. The rain/snow date is February 18. According to the event’s organizer, the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, this is the first time in U.S. history that a large-scale fireworks show will celebrate the Lunar New Year and it will nearly equal the iconic Macy’s Independence Day Fireworks Spectacular in scope.

“We have joined creative minds and talented teams to really accentuate this remarkable event,” says Phil Grucci, whose pyrotechnicians have choreographed the fireworks to Chinese and Western music recorded by the China National Symphony Orchestra.

Tuesday’s fireworks will launch “Happy Chinese New Year: Fantastic Art China,” a series of concerts, art exhibits and community events through February at the New York Philharmonic, Avery Fisher Hall, and the New-York Historical Society, as well as the Lunar New Year lighting of the Empire State Building from February 17-19.

UPDATE February 19, 2015:

Check out Jim Levine’s gorgeous photos and video of the fireworks here.

Grucci Fireworks Spectacular on Hudson River for Chinese New Year, February 17, 2015. Photo © Jim Levine

Borough President Eric Adams, Public Advocate Letitia James to Join Jan 18 Rally to Save the Boardwalk

Posted in Coney Island Redevelopment, Events, News, tagged Boardwalk, Borough President Eric Adams, Brighton Beach, Chaim Deutsch, Chuck Schumer, Coney Island, Letitia James, Mark Treyger, Save the Boardwalk on January 16, 2015| 2 Comments »

Borough President Eric Adams and Councilman Mark Treyger and officials at Dec 18 Announcement for New Year’s Eve Celebration in Coney Island. Photo via Coney Island Facebook

Today’s 1pm rally moved to Boardwalk pavilion at Brighton 4th St, few blocks west of Coney Island Ave, if still raining. Please spread the word!

Borough President Eric Adams, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James and possibly Senator Chuck Schumer are scheduled to join the January 18th community rally to save the historic Riegelmann Boardwalk. Councilman Mark Treyger and Councilman Chaim Deutsch, whose districts include the Coney Island-Brighton Beach Boardwalk, organized the rally, which is at 1pm on the Boardwalk at Coney Island Avenue in Brighton. Take the Q train to the Brighton Beach stop and then walk one block to the Boardwalk.

“I share their views on the Boardwalk,” Borough President Eric Adams said in a sitdown with the Brooklyn Daily last week. “We do need to protect Coney Island and what makes it so special — its history and traditions — and I think a wooden Boardwalk is a part of that.”

We hope YOU will join the rally, too. It’s not an exaggeration to say this may be our last chance to save the Boardwalk. Last month, New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission used a form letter from 2012 and incorrect info to reject the Council Members’ petition, according to “Coney’s Boardwalk Should Be a Landmark,” an essay by historian Charles Denson of the Coney Island History Project. Meanwhile, the City’s Parks Department and its commissioner Mitchell Silver are going ahead with a project to make a concrete roadway for so-called “emergency vehicles” (garbage trucks, Parks Dept vans etc.) on the Boardwalk in Brighton Beach, a pilot project approved in 2012 by six appointees of Mayor Bloomberg.

Boardwalk Not Sidewalk/No Concrete. Sign on Building Facing Boardwalk East of Ocean Parkway in Brighton Beach. Photo © Bruce Handy

The Borough President co-sponsored Coney Island’s first New Year’s Eve celebration including an LED light show and fireworks at the Parachute Jump, fulfilling a promise he made during the campaign. “The Riegelmann Boardwalk is imprinted with over 90 years of history, helping to establish Coney Island as America’s playground,” Adams said in December, in support of CM Treyger and Deutsch’s petition to make the boardwalk a Scenic Landmark.

“Millions of visitors have made the pilgrimage to southern Brooklyn, and we want to see millions more enjoy its unique, iconic character in the decades to come,” said the Borough President. “I support a scenic landmark designation for the Riegelmann Boardwalk because I believe it is in the best interest of Brooklyn’s cultural and economic well-being. I look forward to working with my elected colleagues and local stakeholders to advance this proposal.”

The Boardwalk opened in 1923 and was already undergoing renovation in 1934: Group of men ripping up old planking on Coney Island boardwalk near Half Moon Hotel. Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection

Mayor Bill de Blasio has not only continued the Bloomberg-approved Concretewalk but failed to listen to local council members and the community. All year, letters and requests for an environmental study and a meeting to discuss the Coney Island-Brighton Beach Boardwalk with Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver were rebuffed. A stakeholders’ meeting was belatedly arranged on the day before New Year’s Eve, according to a report by the NY Daily News titled “City won’t budge on plan to change Coney Island Boardwalk’s wooden planks to used plastic and concrete.”

“The fate of the Boardwalk is in your hands,” Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance president Rob Burstein wrote today in a letter calling for a huge turnout. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that this is our make or break moment! Please contribute to our common effort in the one way that you can make a difference- Show up and stand with us! I know that you believe that the Boardwalk is worth saving – for ourselves and for future generations – and should not be destroyed by uncaring bureaucrats. You must show up and say so!”