New Year’s Eve fireworks in Central Park and Prospect Park canceled this year because of drought
Fireworks at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park. Photo courtesy of Andrew Gardner
New York City’s parks will be unusually quiet this New Year’s Eve. Due to the ongoing drought, firework shows will not take place in Central Park or Prospect Park this year, as first reported by the New York Times. Running non-profit New York Road Runners said City Hall and the Parks Department instructed them to forgo this year’s fireworks display during the annual New Year’s Eve race in Central Park. In Prospect Park, the traditional fireworks show has been swapped for a drone light show, featuring images of iconic NYC landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.
The NYRR is “exploring other festive options” to commemorate the end of their four-mile Midnight Run, which typically traverses the inner loop of Central Park and kicks off on December 31 at 11:59 p.m., offering runners a quick start into the New Year.
In Prospect Park, the drone light show will turn the night sky into a glowing canvas above Grand Army Plaza. The show is set to begin at 10 p.m. on December 31.
New York City is currently under a drought warning, the second of three escalating levels of drought advisories, each involving stricter water conservation measures.
Mayor Eric Adams and the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala issued a drought watch on November 2, marking the first stage of advisories, before the mayor escalated it to a drought warning on November 18.
Despite the five boroughs receiving a considerable amount of rain on Thanksgiving Day, the city’s seven reservoirs are still stuck at roughly 59 percent, according to the Times. The rainfall budged the levels slightly higher than they were previously, and they still remain well below the 82 percent capacity that is typical for this time of year.
Prospect Park is still recovering from a two-acre brush fire that devasted its heavily wooded Nethermead area, located near the park’s Boathouse, that broke out on November 11. According to the Times, officials are working to prevent soil erosion on one of the damaged hillsides by putting in logs and netting to hold it in place.
The planting of new foliage will begin in time, which is expected to cost over $200,000 in plants and labor, Morgan Monaco, president and chief executive of the Prospect Park Alliance, told the newspaper.
Inwood Hill Park in upper Manhattan saw two brush fires last month, on November 13 and 19. In the Bronx, two separate fires blazed in Van Cortlandt Park, according to The City.
These incidents have contributed to the city’s Fire Department responding to a record-breaking 229 brush fires over two weeks in November.
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