News on the future of coney island.

Yeah thats interesting. I though that it was odd that they were building housing that close to an amusement area, but then I thought hey its NY, maybe they are used to noise or something. And now we wait to see what happens.

i will miss the spookhouses and the tower from the world's fair, (i think they ought to keep all of those things) but as long as they keep cyclone and wounderwheel, which from what i can tell are in the plans, i think it's fantastic they are going to completly redo the place. i go there all the time during the season and as much as i love it, i always leave with a bit of a wish to see the country's first major amusement park grounds/area to be as great as it deserves to be. with the exception of the few great rides like cyclone, wounderwheel, the spookhouses, for historical reasons the tower, and maybe a couple other things, it's mainly generic, crappy portable carnival rides. coney island deserves the best. i fully understand people's disaproval of modernizing it, but if it remains as is, it will die off within our lifetime. i actually think while upgrading it, it will have much the classic feel go along with it. let's be honest, most people (myself included) are more likely to visit the place if they feel and know it is safe, and travelers might even make it a destination. coney island deserves this. think how great it would be if, instead of driving to jersey, people in the city could just jump on the train to go to a top notch theme park with great rides!

What is going to happen to the B & B Carousel? This is the last surviving antique merry-go-round at Coney Island. I believe that the city acquired it to save it from being chopped up for collectors. This is one of the few carousels that still has an operating ring machine.

There is also that great spookhouse at Deno's. Will that be saved with the Wonder Wheel?

I have mixed feelings on what's going on. The honky tonk boardwalk atmosphere is definitely what defines Coney Island today, but then I think back to what the place was supposed to be like in its glory days and I can completely see something like the proposed amusement park being a part of that- something elaborate and over-the-top like Steeplechase. I don't see why and effort can't be made to ensure honky tonk and "Vegas" can't co-exist side-by-side (the concepts aren't that far apart, if you think about it), but I'll be happy as long as the Cyclone, Spook-O-Rama, the Wonder Wheel, the B&B and the Eldorado bumper cars remain along with new amusements. Nothing wrong with having something new as long as the old stuff isn't shoved aside.

Bring back some of the history! How about a working Parachute jump, the Steeplechase, the Virginia Reel, and those now gone wooden coasterssuch as the Thunderbolt and the Tornado.

I thought that they were restoring the parachute tower?

No, the Parachute Jump was dismantled and refurbished a few years back... not to return it to operation but to stabilize the structure, perhaps so it can be returned to operation at a later date? It's definitely not going anywhere, as I think it's been designated a landmark like the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel.

IIRC...they were refurbishing AND trying to figure out if PJ could come back to operation - then decided while it was down and being examined that it wasn't going to be opperable again. That's my recollection, anyhow....

Not entirely unlike the situation with Wizard's Cavern....except WC was *replaced*, and I don't know if that's even possible with PJ due to its historic designation.

*** Edited 2/21/2007 7:49:19 PM UTC by rollergator***

I thought the thing holding back a 100% revitalization of the Parachute Jump was because it would cost too much to build a new ride system for the tower? Could be wrong but I thought that cost was a big factor in that decision?