Macy’s fireworks were huge again this year. My entire social media feed was just the Brooklyn Bridge with fireworks exploding behind it.
They’ve done this for 49 years now. But you see all that, and you have to wonder—what’s the price tag for a show like that?
A Price Tag That Keeps Climbing
According to estimates reported by Style Caster, the fireworks display alone may have cost around $6 million this year. And that’s just the pyrotechnics.
Cleaning up after the event brings its own bill. By comparing it to Times Square’s New Year’s Eve cleanup, which ran close to $100,000, the Macy’s post-show cleanup could fall around $50,000.
So altogether, the price of one night’s celebration might hover around $6.05 million.
A Longstanding City Tradition
Macy’s began sponsoring the event in 1976 to celebrate America’s bicentennial. Since then, it has become a staple of New York’s Independence Day, growing in scale and reach.
The fireworks have been broadcast since 1983, first by WPIX and now by NBC, making it one of the most-watched events of the holiday. A 2019 Fox Business report estimated that 4 million people attend the celebration each year, with millions more watching from home.
The event has become a fixture in the city’s summer calendar, one that balances visual spectacle with significant logistical effort.
Why It Keeps Going
Yes, it’s costly—and that’s a common concern. But fans of the show say it’s about more than just money.
It’s one of the few times everyone in the city is doing the same thing, all watching the same sky. It’s over in a flash, but for a lot of people, the Fourth just wouldn’t be the Fourth in New York without it.
