New Jersey
July 4th 2025 Fireworks, Events Around Berkeley
BERKELEY, NJ — Independence Day falls on a Friday in 2025, kicking off a star-spangled three-day weekend packed with fireworks, festivals and other Fourth of July fun in and around Berkeley.
To help you fit it all in on your 4th of July calendar, Patch has put together a guide to what’s going on in Berkeley and the surrounding areas.
July 4 Festivities For 2025
What: Berkeley Sounds of Summer Concert
Where: Veterans Park, Bayville
When: July 2, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Enjoy live music from Jukebox Legends and Naked Jake Band, followed by fireworks at 9 p.m.
What: Lacey Township Fireworks
Where: Lacey Township High School
When: July 3
Festivities begin at 7:30 p.m.; fireworks are at 9:15 p.m.
What: Surf City Fireworks
Where: Barnegat Bay off 17th and 18th Street
When: July 3, 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.
What: Seaside Heights Fireworks
Where: Seaside Heights Boardwalk
When: July 4, 9:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
What: Beach Haven Fireworks
Where: Taylor Avenue bayfront behind Bay Village
When: July 4, 9:30 p.m.
What: Tuckerton Fireworks
Where: Lake Pohatcong
When: July 4, dusk around 9:15 p.m.
What: Barnegat Fireworks
Where: Barnegat High School
When: July 5
Festivities begin at 5 p.m.
What: Beachwood Fireworks Over the Toms River
Where: The Toms River
When: July 5
Note that this annual tradition is held on July 5 this year.
Independence Day commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. In that document, the 13 original colonies declared their independence from Great Britain.
During the pivotal summer of 1776, the pre-Revolutionary celebrations honoring King George III’s birthday were replaced with mock funerals as a symbolic break from the crown.
It was an exciting time in Philadelphia — the Continental Congress voted to break from the crown and, two days later on July 4, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the original 13 colonies —New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia — to adopt the Declaration of Independence.
The first annual commemoration of the nation’s independence was in Philadelphia on July 4, 1777, while the Revolutionary War was ongoing. Fireworks have been part of Fourth of July festivities since the first celebration in Philadelphia.
Today, Americans celebrate with fireworks, parades, concerts, and family gatherings and barbecues. Celebrations, though, predate by centuries the designation of Independence Day as a federal holiday, which didn’t happen until 1941.
New Jersey
Police rescue 2 girls after falling through ice on New Jersey lake
Thursday, December 18, 2025 4:41AM
MT HOLLY, N.J. (WPVI) — First responders in Burlington County, New Jersey, rescued two children who fell through the ice on a frozen lake.
Mount Holly police were called to Woolman Lake on Wednesday afternoon.
Officers arrived to find two girls submerged in chest-deep water. A boy had been able to escape the icy waters before officers arrived.
Officers used a rope to pull the two girls to safety.
All three are expected to be OK.
Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
New Jersey
Garden State Equality director resigns amid child endangerment, assault charges
Christian Fuscarino resigned Tuesday as executive director of Garden State Equality amid charges of child endangerment and assault after an incident last month with a child in his Neptune City home.
“I resigned from Garden State Equality to ensure that the organization’s work is not impacted by a private family matter,” Fuscarino, a nationally recognized advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, said in a statement on social media.
“While my loved ones and I have been working through this moment together with care and love, the press has turned a deeply personal situation into a public headline,” Fuscarino said.
“Everyone involved is safe and navigating this situation responsibly,” he added.
Fuscarino asked that the matter “be seen for what it is: a private family moment, not a public spectacle.”
Fuscarino, 35, is charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child by a caretaker and two counts of simple assault, according to court documents.
An affidavit of probable cause alleges Fuscarino pulled the child from bed about 8 p.m. on Nov. 9 and struck the victim multiple times in the face with an open hand, pushing the child into a wall during the encounter.
The incident was captured on a home security video system, according to the affidavit.
The child was later taken to the Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center in Freehold for a forensic interview. The child made no disclosure of physical abuse, the affidavit states.
However, another person living in the home told investigators they witnessed Fuscarino strike the child and intervened.
The state Division of Child Protection and Permanency obtained the video and notified the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office on Nov. 20.
A Neptune City police detective arrested Fuscarino on Nov. 21. The case has since been referred to the prosecutor’s office, court records show.
In a statement Tuesday, Garden State Equality said they had placed Fuscarino on leave after learning of the charges.
By Wednesday, Fuscarino’s bio on the Garden State Equality website had been removed.
“Garden State Equality takes allegations against our staff seriously and we oppose violence of any kind,” the agency said. “We respect the courts and will allow that process to be handled by them.”
Fuscarino had served since 2016 as the executive director of Garden State Equality, the largest LGBTQ+ organization in New Jersey, which is based in Asbury Park.
With 20 years of experience in LGBTQ+ advocacy, Fuscarino had been at the forefront of efforts to protect transgender rights, combat hate violence, and implement groundbreaking healthcare and education policies.
In a July 2018 story posted to NJ.com, Fuscarino said he wanted to dedicate his life to helping New Jersey’s LGBTQ+ community so that others would not have to suffer the indignities that he endured in adolescence.
New Jersey
10 hospitalized, including some students, after crash involving school bus in New Jersey
MOORESTOWN, N.J. (WPVI) — Ten people, including several students, were hospitalized Tuesday after a school bus crash in Burlington County, New Jersey.
The collision happened around 3 p.m. at Borton Landing and Hartford roads in Moorestown.
Township officials said in a Facebook post that a car and school bus collided at the intersection, injuring six students, the bus driver and three occupants of the passenger vehicle. All injuries appear to be minor, officials said.
“We have been made aware of a bus accident on one of our routes. There are no significant injuries for our students,” Moorestown Township Public Schools said in a statement.
The remaining students on the bus were taken to a nearby school, where they were picked up by family members.
School counselors will be available this week to provide additional support to students.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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