ALBANY — Thousands are expected to take in official fireworks displays across the Capital Region and Hudson Valley during the July 4th long weekend, but if your plans to celebrate the nation’s independence involve blowing up a small part of it with your own pyrotechnics, here is what you need to know.
New York law allows for the sale and use of a specific category of consumer fireworks known as sparkling devices, according to the website for the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. Sparkling devices include sparklers and ground based or handheld devices that produce a shower of colored sparks and/or a colored flame, audible crackling or whistling noise and smoke, DHSES says. These devices cannot exceed 500 grams of pyrotechnic composition.
Counties can can opt to prohibit sparkling devices and, locally, Albany, Columbia, Schenectady and Warren counties have done so. In fact, parts of the Capital Region and Hudson Valley are the only places in upstate New York to prohibit fireworks sales and personal use. New York City and Long Island have also opted out.
Albany’s ban came in 2020 after the city of Albany police reported a 300 percent increase in fireworks calls and the sounds of explosions were heard virtually every night throughout the city. Warren County repealed its law allowing sparkling devices in 2021.
In the Capital Region and Mohawk Valley, sparkler-type fireworks can be sold in Saratoga, Rensselaer, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Schoharie and Washington counties. The state provides a list of authorized retailers in those counties, which includes many grocery stores.
Sparking devices are permitted throughout the Hudson Valley with the exception of Westchester County and the cities of Newburgh and Middletown in Orange County.
Legal sparklers can only be purchased from permanent and specialty retailers between June 1 and July 5 and then between Dec. 26…
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