Massive Crowd, Tight Security Expected For July 4 Fireworks: NYPD

NEW YORK — Stick to your rooftop to beat the crowds. New Yorkers planning to watch the massive July 4 fireworks display over the East River should expect throngs of people and tight security, NYPD officials said Tuesday.

Millions of spectators, thousands of cops and even a drone will be out in force for the 43rd annual Macy's Independence Day fireworks show, police officials said.

While there are no specific or credible threats to the festivities, spectators will go through security checkpoints and have their bags inspected by cops along the Manhattan and Brooklyn waterfronts Thursday evening, according to the NYPD.

"We'll have locked down the entire area," Chief of Counterterrorism James Waters said at a Tuesday news conference.

The fireworks will be launched off four barges floating in the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge, Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison said. The show will start at about 9:25 p.m. and finish up just before 10 p.m., he said.

Cops will start closing several streets to traffic at 2 p.m., including the Brooklyn Bridge and the FDR Drive from Battery Park to Houston Street, NYPD officials said. Spectators will be able to claim viewing spots starting at 6 p.m. at six access points along the FDR Drive in Manhattan and six others in Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Harrison said.

Cops will check spectators' bags and take away any prohibited items, including blankets, lawn chairs, large coolers, umbrellas, large bags and alcohol, NYPD officials said.

Officers at the checkpoints will have equipment on hand to detect radiation and explosives, Waters said. They'll be backed up by bomb-sniffing dogs and cops armed with long guns, he said.

"We'll also have plainclothes officers mixed into the crowd," Waters said.

The NYPD will be using so-called interdiction technology to detect any drones in the air — but its own drone will be watching the celebration from above, police officials said.

"It gives us an eye in the sky," Chief of Department Terence Monahan said. "We're going to place it in a couple different locations and it gives us an opportunity to monitor the crowd from our cellphones."

The fireworks show will come less than a week after Sunday's huge LGBT Pride parade, which also required a major police presence.

The July 4 event's broad geographic reach makes it particularly challenging to police as it encompasses multiple boroughs, NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said.

"This is what the NYPD does," O'Neill said. "We have so many large events during the year, we'll be ready."