It was my first 4th of July in New York City. We started the day with a trip to Chinatown for dumplings at Prosperity Dumpling and boba tea at Ten Ren Tea Time. The dumplings at Prosperity Dumpling were very good and cheap. For one dollar, you get four dumplings. It is a small place with only a few seats to sit on. After lunch, we took a subway and the free ferry to Staten Island. The view from the ferry was amazing. From the ferry, you can see downtown New York and the Statue of the Liberty. The Statue of the Liberty just reopened on the 4th of July.
At Staten Island, we took a bus to Historic Richmond Town. It took about 30 minutes on a bus from the ferry station. It was not very crowded. Only a few of the buildings were open including a tin shop, a grocery store, a pub, a house, and a school. The school is the oldest standing remaining school in the country. In the afternoon, there was a parade, a pie contest, and a free ice cream tasting.
In the evening, we went down to Chelsea and had Thai food at Chelsea Thai Wholesale in Chelsea Market. We didn’t plan to have Thai for dinner but it was one of the few places open. After dinner, we walked to the West Side Highway and I was surprised to see so many people were already there sitting and waiting for the fireworks. We walked from around 14th Street up to around 30th Street. We saw fireworks from a rooftop of a building on 8th Avenue between 36th Street and 37th Street. A vendor I work with put me on a list to access to the rooftop. We got a great view from the 28th floor. Here are a few pictures of the fireworks.
The Empire State Building also had a light show that lasted about 5 minutes at the end of the Fireworks. It was very pretty. I think they should start doing it everyday. The top of the building also had red, white, and blue colors.