Independence Day in Rome and New York

When I lived in Rome, America's Independence Day was just another day in the Eternal City. Yet, thousands of miles from anything resembling the United States, I had an irrepressible urge to have a picnic, eat American-style food, and drink ice tea or beer. (Ice tea is a decidedly un-Italian beverage.) I got together with a few friends who shared a similar feeling, found someplace to eat outdoors, and had a makeshift celebration.

Most other Independence Day gatherings haven't stayed with me as the Roman one has. The New York holidays are mostly memorable for fireworks displays. When I lived in Astoria, at that time a largely Greek community, the 4th of July was living hell for my cats. The fireworks hurt the animals' sensitive hearing and the noise frightened them. I could not help or console them. I wanted the neighbors' gunpowder orgy over with as quickly as possible.

One brighter holiday memory was watching fireworks over New York Harbor. I was invited to a rooftop July 4th party along Brooklyn's Red Hook waterfront. At that time, Red Hook was a somewhat menacing slum where one could feel desperately anxious on its dimly lit streets. The rooftop was like any other New York tenement rooftop on a hot summer night, except that it commanded a sensational view of Lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the harbor. And so, while enjoying Mexican food and beer, I watched a celebration of our nation's independence with a mixed crowd of American citizens and undocumented aliens.