A crowd massed by the Brooklyn Bridge on NYE for fireworks that never came. Photo: Kevin Burke, @keankburke on Instagram.
By COLE SINANIAN
news@queensledger.com
Thousands of people were left disappointed on New Year’s Eve after waiting in the cold at Brooklyn Bridge Park for a midnight fireworks show that never came.
According to 40-year-old photographer and Brooklynite Kevin Burke, the confusion likely stemmed from erroneous information from popular tourist account Time Out New York, which posted an article advertising a New Year’s fireworks show over the Brooklyn Bridge. In reality, fireworks shows on New Year’s are held annually in Central Park and Prospect Park, but not at the Brooklyn Bridge, which is instead known for its July 4th fireworks. Additionally, a Facebook video posted on an account called New York Vibes that showed the July 4th fireworks show over the Brooklyn Bridge circulated on multiple social media platforms, which Burke suspects might’ve contributed to leading some tourists astray.
By the time Time Out New York issued a correction to its article it was too late. Burke had been in Midtown, attempting to photograph the Times Square New Year’s Eve festivities. But when the immense crowds blocked him from getting anywhere near the celebration, he decided to check Google for a last-minute plan B.
“I saw the AI response from Google saying where to see fireworks,” Burke said. “They mentioned all these normal places, like Prospect Park, Central Park, and it also mentioned Brooklyn Bridge Park.”
“I’m like, Brooklyn Bridge Park, they don’t do fireworks,” Burke continued. “Then I saw articles from Time Out New York, which is a big Instagram page. So I’m like, ‘hold on, maybe they got some inside information that I don’t know about.”
The A train was quiet until he got to High Street, Burke said, where large crowds clogged the stairs and subway entrances. Outside, there were cops, police barricades, and what looked like thousands of people, some with tripods set up, Burke said, yet the bridge was still open and full of cars. The crowds at the park were so large that Burke hardly had space to set up his own camera.
Burke also noticed that there were few English speakers among the crowd, suggesting the majority could have been tourists who were easily misguided.
“The crowd didn’t even want to let me get a spot there,” he said. “I was like ‘let me squeeze in here.’ And they were, they were looking at me funny. I don’t know if they didn’t understand me, they were just like, staring at me. I had to push my way through.”
Videos on TikTok and Instagram showed crowds of people on the grassy hill overlooking the East River at Brooklyn Bridge Park counting down with their phones out. Some cheered and shouted “Happy New Year!” despite the lack of fireworks. In other videos people danced and posed for photos, seemingly unphased by the disappointment. According to Burke, people stuck around until about 10 minutes after midnight.
”No one got pissed off,” Burke said. “That’s another reason I knew they weren’t from New York. New Yorkers would have been like, bugging out.”
