Rockville Centre's July 4 fireworks show canceled

Rockville Centre village officials had to cancel the annual Independence Day fireworks show scheduled for July 4 at Mill River Park because of new regulations and ongoing projects in the area.

According to village spokeswoman Julie Grilli-Scully, the event was canceled because the Nassau County Arson and Bomb Squad changed the rules for the radius surrounding the spots where shells are shot off from, with the old radius being 210 feet and the new regulations now at 300 feet for a 3-inch shell.

“That means there has to be a diameter of 600 feet around the spot where they shoot them off,” Grilli-Scully explained. “Most importantly, the fireworks cannot be shot off from the west side of the river bank anymore because of this radius change.  The building adjacent to the turf field is within the 300-foot radius, so they cannot be staged there anymore.”

She added that there are two major projects beginning this summer that will run down Lister and Barasch fields. The first is the Living with the Bay initiative to improve storm resiliency along Mill River, and the second is the Bay Park Conveyance Project, which will re-route treated effluent, or wastewater, from Bay Park to the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant on the Wantagh-Seaford border using underground pipes. With equipment being stored for the major projects in the area of the traditional fireworks show and the projects slated to conclude in September, the decision was made to cancel the event.

“Because of these new regulations and the work being done in the area, the fireworks had to be canceled this year,” Grilli-Scully said. “The village looks forward to bringing the fireworks back in the near future.”