Offi cials break ground on Luna Park expansion
BY JESSICA PARKS
A long-awaited expansion
of Coney Island’s Luna Park
previously postponed by the
coronavirus pandemic fi nally
kicked off on Tuesday morning,
less than a year before it’s
slated to open to the public.
“It is an amazing day for us,
there are so many emotions,”
said Alessandro Zamperla,
president and chief executive
offi cer of Central Amusement
International, the developer
and operator contracted by
the city to run Luna Park.
Zamperla halted his expansion
plans for Luna Park in
March 2020 when COVID-19
halted all new construction and
elected not to restart the project
while the amusement district
faced fi nancial uncertainty
through this passing season.
Now, after a successful summer
for the amusement district,
the park owner is relaunching
a project he says will bring a
variety of new entertainment
to the People’s Playground —
including a custom-made rollercoaster
that will intertwine
with a new log fl ume, a ropes
course called the Sky Chaser
and three new pedestrian plazas
fi lled with food options,
games and seating.
Zamperla said the vision for
the project was to bring something
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new to Coney Island —
once complete, the log fl ume
will be the only full-scale water
ride in the amusement district
and each new attraction
will offer never-before-seen
views of Coney Island Beach
and the boardwalk.
“It’s something that we
are missing,” Zamperla said.
“A big water ride — that is
something that especially our
guests keep asking for … and
then we said we are going to
do something really special,
something custom-made so
not only do we have the water
ride, we have a rollercoaster.”
The project — conducted
in partnership with the city’s
Parks Department and Economic
Development Corporation
— will also turn the concrete
street ends at Stillwell
Avenue, West 12th Street and
West 15th Street from Wonder
Wheel Way to the Riegelmann
Boardwalk into a new trio of
pedestrian plazas that will allow
visitors to enjoy the amusement
district more months
into the year, Zamperla said.
“These new pedestrian
plazas will be an open-air entertainment
destination with
food, games and retail locations
adorned with shaded
seating and greenery that will
invite the community and our
guests to relax and enjoy Coney
Island for more days and
longer time,” he said.
Similar to the log fl ume,
Zamperla said the name of
the incoming ropes course,
the Sky Chaser, was dreamt
up by kids at the Coney Island
YMCA. Meanwhile, the names
of the rollercoaster and the log
fl ume are yet to be decided, he
told Brooklyn Paper.
The construction and operation
of the new suite of rides
at Luna Park is expected to
produce thousands of jobs,
which will be made easily
available to the Coney island
community through HireNYC
and the Mermaid Avenue
Workforce1 Center.
At the Oct. 5 groundbreaking,
local Councilmember
Mark Treyger applauded the
expansion project for its mission
to revitalize the amusement
district, especially at a
time when Brooklynites need
the People’s Playground most.
“This is also about activating
and reinvigorating this
historic amusement district,”
Treyger said. “I think this is
the most magical place in New
York and I think I can say this
with certainty. We need Coney
Island more than ever.”
Rachel Loeb, president
and chief executive offi cer of
NYCEDC, said the amusement
district has made huge strides
since the amusement district
reopened in April, and spoke
of all the peninsula’s improvements
since the neighborhood’s
rezoning in 2009.
“We are excited about all the
continuing growth,” Loeb said.
“It is truly remarkable to see
how we’ve come in 10 years and
how far we are going to go.”
The Parks Department’s
assistant commissioner for
projects and planning called
the Luna Park groundbreaking
a step in the right direction
after the pandemic.
“For the entire year, there
was no Luna Park, there really
was no Coney Island,”
said David Cerron, “and I
think that makes this moment
so much more meaningful and
exciting.”
A new Luna Park rollercoaster will intertwine with a log fl ume slated for
opening at the start of the 2022 season. Central Amusements International
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