City reschedules fireworks show for Labor Day weekend

The city’s annual fireworks show, at Riverside Boulevard beach, was postponed last Friday due to heavy surf in the Rockaway Inlet, which prevented the barge carrying the fireworks from safely reaching Long Beach. The event was rescheduled for Labor Day weekend, after rough water forced a second postponement on Saturday, the event’s rain date.

“Although we hoped to use the fireworks rain date this evening, the surf is just too heavy for the barge to safely travel from Brooklyn to Long Beach,” officials wrote on the city’s Facebook page on Saturday. “Our event staff is currently coordinating with the fireworks company to present a display during Labor Day weekend. Please check back for further details.”

Officials confirmed this week that the show would take place during the first weekend of September.

The display, put on by Farmingdale-based Bay Fireworks, is one of the city’s most popular events of the summer, drawing thousands of residents and visitors to the beach and boardwalk — and often creating heavy traffic. A concert in conjunction with the fireworks, featuring New York Minute, was also postponed.

The city stopped having a July Fourth fireworks show in the early 1980s, but brought it back in 1997 for Long Beach’s 75th anniversary. After staging fireworks shows in June a few times, the City Council brought back the holiday display in 2006, and the cost has been covered by sponsorships over the past few years.

Residents took to Facebook to share their opinions on pushing the event to September — including Erika Canteno of Island Park, who said that fireworks belong in July, and others who had turned out early for the event.

“The fireworks must be in July and not [put off] until Labor Day,” Canteno told the Herald. “All residents of Long Beach and nearby residents await this event [around] July Fourth.”

Others expressed concerns that the city’s display could overlap with the Island Park fireworks show, which is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 3, following the village’s last summer concert. Some people, however, said that the later holiday could be the perfect time for the show.

“Sunday of Labor Day weekend would be pretty awesome as that’s my bachelorette weekend,” Amanda Golden commented on the city’s post. “Fingers crossed for some surprise fireworks.”

The Fireworks Extravaganza has been postponed on a few occasions, city officials told the Herald, but has never been rescheduled for Labor Day weekend. Officials said it would take time to refile the necessary permits from the Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Nassau County fire marshal, all at least 30 days prior to the event.

The city said it wanted to put on the show during a holiday weekend to end the summer with a bang, rather than having the fireworks on an arbitrary date in August.

“If we can do Irish Day in October,” Long Beach resident Claudia Piccolino wrote on Facebook, “we can do the Fourth of July in September.”