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Fired up! Brooklyn’s best spots for July 4 rocket gawking

Fired up! Brooklyn’s best spots for July 4 rocket gawking
Photo by Stefano Giovannini

It’s news you can fuse!

Independence Day is right around the corner, and with another year of the Macy’s fireworks display on the East River, we’re about to blow with excitement. Here are the best places in the world to catch the show:

Straight to the point

The lion’s share of explosives will be way up on the East River near a place called Queens, New York, so if you want an eyeful of sky candy, head north to Greenpoint.

For aerial views, check out the rooftop bar at Northern Territory. Technically it is an Australian bar, but as fellow former colonists, we hope they will join their adopted homeland in giving the collective finger to Great Britain. But get there early, because access is first come, first serve.

Northern Territory [12 Franklin St. between Meserole Avenue and N. 15th Street in Greenpoint, (347) 689-4065, northernterritorybk.com]. $40.

The air up there

Or watch the spectacular from 60 feet up at Williamsburg eatery The Gorbals’ rooftop bar. This is the go-to place for the patriotic gourmand — the restaurant is serving up a $20 prix fixe menu that includes highfalutin’ hot dogs, charred coleslaw, corn on the cob with pimenton butter, and ginger spare ribs with crunchy berries. But there are no reservations on the roof after 6 pm, so go early to stake out your spot.

The Gorbals [98 N. Sixth St. between Wythe Avenue and Berry Street in Williamsburg, (718) 387-0195, www.thegorbalsbk.com]. Free.

Brooklyn’s front yard

Most of the action will be up near the Hinterlands beyond Newtown Creek, but Macy’s had the good sense to plant a barge full of dazzling explosives just downriver from the Brooklyn Bridge, which means Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Promenade are your free seat no-brainers.

And nothing says America like drinking a ton of beer on a Naval vessel while stuff blows up — and you can do just that in Brooklyn Bridge Park! The Vietnam-era Baylander, parked near Pier 5 in Brooklyn Bridge Park is hosting rocket gawkers. They’ll have unlimited beer, wine, hamburgers, and hot dogs — all they ask is a donation to help vets. God bless the United States of America.

Baylander Fourth of July Party at Pier 5 [near the Atlantic Avenue entrance at Furman Street in Brooklyn Heights, (240) 643-9973]. Free, but c’mon, give something for the veterans.

For the Brooklyn-obsessed

Say you don’t want a Manhattan backdrop sullying your Fourth of July experience — and really who would? Your best bet is taking a ride down to the People’s Playground, where the Alliance for Coney Island and some local pols are putting on a free spectacle of pyrotechnic pageantry at 9:45 pm. Grab a spot on the Boardwalk for the best views.

Fireworks on in Coney Island [Boardwalk near W. 10th Street, (718) 594-7895, www.allianceforconeyisland.org] 9:45 pm. Free.

Reach reporter Max Jaeger at mjaeger@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–8303. Follow him on Twitter @JustTheMax.