Mein Gott! A pissed off mob?!

I see a blinding light that hurts us.

It's independence day so shouldn't people be celebrating?

shiny!

It shows someone had more fun on the 4th than me lol

Oh, and also cell phones or cameras are very common

Finally, maybe people are too worried about capturing a moment and experiencing it in a voyeuristic way versus living in/enjoying the moment...kind of like "hey, I can get a photo for my blog and brag to my friends that I was at this cool place etc." versus sitting back and enjoying it...

No offense to anyone intended...NYC is fun on the 4th and I'm jealous!

I'm with Akatsuki and Angie. It looks like a riot that's getting ready to be put down by Apollo.

@Akatsuki398 - Um... No not quite, people were quite jovial and friendly, that and there were cops everywhere.

@ms_hijikata - No, it does not put the lotion on it's skins.

@Lightfellower - Yes, but then they were.

@Allicrombie - my iPhone has a sucky camera I get it.

@Stowik - Get out of my head! Yes, that was it, just looking down that sea of people (there were approximately half a million people directly visible to me there, maybe more if the buildings weren't in the way.

But most importantly, the sheer number of video cameras and camera phones was mind boggling. It just shows how much our society is technologically dependent and even more sad is that the fleeting beauty is missed because a bunch of people want to film something they won't even watch again. The picture I show you of the twinkling sea of white blue LCD screens was the only photo I took pretty much the entire trip. It was downright eerie.

@3KingdomsRandy - I can only imagine what would have happened if someone caused a panic in a crowd like that...

Almost no blondes in sight.

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't seem to see any fireworks.

Funny how things have turned out: There is no Big Brother, just lots of Little Brothers.

@AzelKosMos - There were some if you look, but an interesting observation nonetheless.

@Garrison_Ford - The fireworks are little ground displays coming off the barges. See those bright red flares in the distance. I took it between air volleys.

@SciFiCat -Wow, did you steal that line from someone? Because it's pretty cool and true. I'm probably going to have to quote that sometime. What's funny though is with everyone watching the sky, you could have been pickpocketed easily in that crowd, so who was watching then?

C'mon man, you know me better than that! I've read 1984 and Animal Farm and love them both. While Animal Farm is as current today as when it was written, love its message about totalitarian regimes, 1984 is a interesting take on that same topic but Orwell just was not able to anticipate the democratization of surveillance. So no, that line is mine and you are free to use it anytime you want. Funny thing how science fiction writers envision the future and how said future end ups being completely different to what was predicted. Here is a quote that is definitely not mine but it is one of my favorites: "The future is not what it used to be. " - Rear Admiral Bill Rowley.

I was there too! Only I was on the 59th highway.

@SciFiCat - You know I've never actually read the entirety of 1984, only a chapter I had to to help my little brother write an essay for.

But I wouldn't say Little Brother is as controlling as Big Brother. Unless the Government secretly can tap into any of those phones and cameras and use them as surveillance as well.

@Almighty-mints - So you were on the waterfront? I was still 3 blocks or so in.

You'd be right!
It was a GREAT view from there too, especially since we were above most of the crowd.

Looks like the night time skies of Beirut during the bloody years...with a mob of people watching. XD

@Almighty-mints - Did you see the supposed "Ghost" Fireworks? Ones that burst into life then fade out then back in at a new spot?

@SavoyPrime - Morbid... morbid man.

Sorry man. XD

I heard about those too. But I can't say I noticed any.
Maybe I'm blind?

@SavoyPrime - It's ok man.

@Almighty-mints - Well, I just figured that being closer to the water you could see everything. Supposedly there were some unique ones that skimmed along the river too.