S♦P♦E♦C♦T♦A♦C♦U♦L♦A♦R C♦O♦N♦E♦Y I♦S♦L♦A♦N♦D
BY JESSICA PARKS
Coney Island’s iconic fi reworks
are coming back in full
swing this summer, starting
July 4 and continuing each
Friday thereafter through Labor
Day.
“We are here today to mark
a milestone in Coney Island
and for New York City, the return
of the beloved July Fourth
Fireworks and Friday night
fi reworks series,” said Alexandra
Silversmith, executive
director of the Alliance for Coney
Island, at a June 28 press
conference at the entrance
to the historic Riegelmann
Boardwalk. “Twenty-three
months since our last fi reworks
show, which is hard to
believe, we are grateful to be
able to bring these events back
22 COURIER LIFE, JULY 2–8, 2021
and can’t wait to see the smiling
faces on the boardwalk.”
The return of the fi reworks
— hosted annually by
the Alliance for Coney Island
with a cohort of sponsors —
was marked with a massive
Monday morning celebration,
which included a fi re eater and
a Brooklyn United Marching
Band performance from Maimonides
Park to the site of the
world famous Cyclone.
The Fourth of July fi reworks
will be held on the holiday starting
at 10 pm, while Friday night
fi reworks will begin July 9 at
9:45 pm, said Silversmith, who
feared the spectacle wouldn’t
return for the summer season
after taking a break in 2020 due
to the pandemic.
“I truly wasn’t sure if we
would see this day in 2021,” she
said, “so I am so glad that we
are here.”
The fi reworks are also expected
to boost the local economy,
and at a good time. The
neighborhood’s amusement
district reopened this summer
after a lost season which left
many area restaurants and
small businesses struggling to
make ends meet.
Councilmember Mark
Treyger, who represents Coney
Island as well as parts of Brighton
Beach and Gravesend, said
that he helped secure funding
to help pay for the fi reworks as
well as other summer activities
in the neighborhood.
“This is a wonderful, wonderful
occasion and a wonderful
turning point,” Treyger
said.
WORK IT
Fireworks to return to Coney,
starting with July 4 special
FIRE IN THE SKY: Coney Island will burst with patriotic pride on July 4. File photo by Steve Solomonson
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