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I don't have a long tradition of celebrating July 4 in a particular way, though it generally involves going somewhere to watch fireworks. New York City has a terrific fireworks display over the East River, which I've enjoyed from several vantage points.
I imagine that I'll spend the day with my wife and daughter, enjoying the sunlight on Roosevelt Island, just across the East River from Manhattan. The Island is full of parks, and I imagine that we would cook burgers and hot dogs (sourced locally, naturally) on a grill (powered by biogas, of course) while enjoying the sunshine.
The Island, by that point, will get the bulk of its power from underwater turbines running in the East River, which produce 30 MW of electricity, so we don't feel bad about the lights or the tram (the island is already mostly off-limits to cars), though occasionally during peak periods (summer days, mostly) we have the same brownouts everyone in the city does, and we need to get on our bicycles if we want to keep the electricity running smoothly. It's good exercise, and it really puts your energy use into perspective!
As the sun goes down, the solar powered street lights come on, and we head down to the park at the south end of the island to watch the fireworks. What a fantastic show!
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