Photo by thezartorialist.com. Photo courtesy of Flickr Commons.

By Paul Bisceglio

Andrew Rausa celebrated Independence Day on a brownstone stoop in Boerum Hill last Wednesday like countless other Brooklynites: with friends, a grill and a few beers. When an unmarked police car stopped in front of them, he told the New York Times, he thought they might be in trouble for the grill.

Instead, they were all issued summonses for drinking in public.

“We were all kind of stunned for a second,” Rausa said to the Times. “It happened over the gate. It was a very tangible physical divide — when [the police] said the words ‘public property,’ it just didn’t make any sense.”

Convinced that his friend’s stoop was in fact private property, Rausa, a rising third year Brooklyn Law student, pulled up New York’s administrative code on his smart phone and argued with one of the officers that no law was broken.

According to Rausa, the officer replied, “I don’t care what the law says, you’re getting a summons.”

Rausa and his friends decided to plead not guilty to the charge instead of paying its $25 fine. They follow another Brooklyn resident, Kimber VanRy, who received the same summons for drinking on his stoop in 2008. His case was dismissed on a technicality.

Stoop drinking remains a gray area in New York’s open-container law, so the outcome of Rausa’s case may set a new precedent for future court rulings.

Rausa’s court date is to be determined. “My issue is not some yuppie, I-think-I’m-above-the-law issue,” he told the Times. “It’s the fact that I brought to the attention of the police officer that he was not in the right and he was not receptive at all.”

Takeru Kobayashi with his trophy in 2009

If you’re still stuffed from Independence Day barbeques, imagine how Joey “Jaws” Chestnut feels. The 28-year-old Californian won his sixth consecutive Nathan’s Famous July 4 International Hot Dog-Eating Contest at Coney Island yesterday by consuming 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

Chestnut beat out Tim Janus of New York (2nd place, 52 dogs), Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago (3rd place, 51 dogs) and other men’s division competitors to tie his previous lifetime best from 2009’s competition. He walked home with 10,000 more dollars and 20,000 more calories.

Sonya Thomas of Virginia also won $10k in the women’s division by eating 45 hot dogs in the same time limit. According to the Associated Press, Thomas is known as the “Black Widow” of competitive eating, and weighs barely 100 pounds. Juliet Lee of Maryland (33 dogs) and Michelle Lesco of Arizona (25.5 dogs) placed behind her.

Now a 97-year-old tradition, the Coney Island hot dog eating contest is a premier event in the world of competitive eating that attracts tens of thousands of spectators each year. Absent for the third time in a row, however, was Joey Chestnut’s rival, the competition’s other six-time reigning champion, Takeru Kobayashi, who was banned in 2010 after he refused to sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating.

Kobayashi sat on the rooftop of the Ritz-Carlton last Fourth of July and ate along with the televised contest, beating Chestnut’s 68 hot dog world record by one. This year, he organized his own contest at Crif Dogs in Brooklyn. He beat Chestnut again by half a dog.

The MLE and Chestnut refuse to recognize Kobayashi’s accomplishments. “I think even Kobayashi would agree that the record still stands at 68,” Chestnut said after the Ritz-Carlton stunt, according to International Business Times. “If he wants to compete with me on the Fourth of July, he knows what he has to do: sign a simple contract and man up.”

I’ve never been one for backyard fireworks.

I remember all those Independence Days as a kid where my friends would whip out some sparklers, a lighter, and a twinkle in their eye, only for us to act out that scene from Hot Rod and stare at a flickering dud until we lost interest (Language rules restrict me from linking to it on YouTube, where I searched “Hot Rod fireworks” and clicked the third one down). But it didn’t take many major disappointments for me to realize the iridescent box of colors in which the sparklers were contained was an empty promise. I quickly gave up the practice.

“Oh, you bought $400 of Roman Candles? Good idea.”

Macy's Fireworks 2010 - photo by Barry Yanowitz

I guess I was spoiled as a kid, though. Instead of wasting our money on some overpriced birthday candles, my family decided to invest in the Disney Vacation Club– a timeshare, similarly overpriced, that pretty much locks up your vacation destination for the next four decades. Since I was five months old, I’ve not gone on a family vacation outside of Orlando. I used to be like this, now I feel like Charlie bit me. Not until I rebelled and went to college all the way in Tampa did I explore other parts of Florida.

(Now we have a house in Celebration, FL, about 30 seconds from Disney World, and I’ve fallen back into that funky Floridian pattern. Help.)

The reason I have no interest in those sparklers, though, is because Disney does do one thing right, and that thing is fireworks. Music synchronization, laser shows and spherical TV screens fashioned to look like a globe accompany the wonderfully choreographed fireworks, and I make sure to catch at least one show every time I go. Heck, I was just there two weeks ago, staring up at the sky with twinkles in my eyes (literally) and getting my ears blasted by incessant explosions.

Perhaps the only fireworks show that I’ve seen that rivals Disney’s expertise, though, is Macy’s Ignite the Night Independence Day fireworks. And fortunately for us, they’re in two days.

Assuming you aren’t blind –not really sure what you’re doing here if you are– the only flaw to a great fireworks show is an obstructed view. So, fortunately for you, fair reader, I have compiled a list of optimum viewing areas (anywhere with a clear view of the Hudson) for this year’s 36th annual Ignite the Night in hopes of sparing you from a strictly-audible fireworks show on Wednesday, which is not nearly as fun.

The barges that set off the fireworks float along the Hudson, between 18th and43rd St, and this means that any of the following spots are a good spots:

-        The West Side Highway, of course – anywhere on the water along the highway is probably the best place to be. There will be plenty of fellow viewers, and everyone will be watching together

-        Riverside Park – host of Hudson Warehouse’s wonderful Shakespearean plays, the park has plenty of great seats and views of the skies. Some of the walls get pretty high off the ground, though, so I wouldn’t recommend making them impromptu seating

-       Hoboken- Except for some really cool, shape-specific versions, fireworks are, for the most part, enjoyable from all angles, so Hoboken is just as good a spot as any

-        Pier 84

-        You can purchase access to the U.S.S. Intrepid for an Independence Day party and a perfect spot to see the show

-        A friend’s place. Obviously the best, least hectic, and most comfortable. If you don’t have one in the neighborhood, it might be worth making one, even if only to use them for their view.

Bad spots:

According to the Macy’s website, East River Park, Battery Park, Battery Park City, and all piers except 84 are not viewing spots for the fireworks show, so, of course, avoid those.

I recommend checking out the official website, as Macy’s provides a ton of information regarding the event. They’ve even gone as far as creating a Macy’s Fireworks App, which purports to make your viewing as seamless as possible.

I’m thinking I’ll be at Riverside Park.

–Nick Gallinelli

Movies start at dusk around 8 or 8:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted), though coming early is a good idea considering how quickly spots fill up. Check out these locations for movies and showtimes.

NYC Parks Summer Movie Series
Free, July 19, 21 and August 22

At a variety of locations in the area, the NYC Parks Summer Movie Series plays. See Happy Feet 2 at Grover Cleveland Park Thursday, July 19 and The Smurfs at Bayswater Park Saturday, July 21. Winnie The Pooh plays at Pomonok Playground on Wednesday, August 22.

Upper West Side

Movies Under the Stars, Pier I in Riverside Park, 70th Street at the Hudson River
Free, Wednesdays, July 11-August 15

Many films being screened this summer are great for adults and a select few are foreign films. The best options for kids are Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (Wednesday, August 8) and Triplets of Belleville (Wednesday, August 15).

Summer Movie Night, Swindler Cove Park
Free, Tuesday, July 3

The Muppet Movie will be playing on the eve of Independence Day. The light-hearted film will take parents back to earlier times, while the kids might enjoy it as something brand new.

To read the full article at New York Family Magazine click here.