New Yorkers taking a mid-week break from their daily routines to celebrate Independence Day marched in parades, grilled hot dogs, dressed up in Revolutionary War attire, and witnessed the eruption of red, white, and blue fireworks in the cloudy evening sky.

Yesterday’s celebration, which came more than four years after the start of the Iraq war, drew hundreds out of their homes on Staten Island, where residents of the South Shore neighborhood of Travis lined their annual parade route with lawn chairs and decorated their homes with American flags, balloons, and bunting.

“It’s been a tradition for as long as we can remember,” Alan Epple, a retired city Department of Corrections captain, said of the 97-year-old event. “It’s the oldest one that we know of, at least on the eastern seaboard.”

Mayor Bloomberg, who marched in the parade, joked that the only thing he knew of that was older than the Travis parade was his mother, who is 98. He said he started the day by reading a portion of the Declaration of Independence. “It’s a day to remind ourselves about our freedoms, a day to remember those who are overseas, fighting and dying for us so that we can have the freedoms that we have,” he said.

Elsewhere in the city, New Yorkers spent the day recognizing the country’s independence by packing into parks and spending time with their families. At Grand Central Terminal, a cheese-sculpting artist unveiled a carving of Mount Rushmore, crafted from a 700-pound block of Wisconsin cheddar cheese. In Coney Island, tens of thousands of people turned out to see the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest. The six-year reigning champion, Takeru Kobayashi of Japan, lost his title to Joseph “Joey” Chestnut. Mr. Chestnut ate 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes, setting a new world record.

An immigrant from Sudan, Ali Yazid, a cab driver, spent the day with family and friends, cooking lamb. He said he fled Sudan in 1988 after a new government jailed all five of his brothers, who had worked for the outgoing regime. The holiday, he said, reminds him of what America gave to him: “It’s a freedom land.”

New Yorkers who were out yesterday likely saw a strong police presence, including in Lower Manhattan, where police helicopters hovered around the Statue of Liberty. But last weeks’ failed terrorist plots in London and Glasgow did not stop people from wading into the crowds.

In Battery Park, Earl Grant, a construction worker from Long Island, sat under two giant umbrellas with his wife and daughter waiting for the fireworks to start. Undeterred by the possibility of rain, they arrived in the city at 11 a.m. and waited all day for the evening performance.

“Hopefully we’ll see something,” Mr. Grant said just before the show. “I love fireworks. I love the noise, the explosion, the color.”