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COURIER LIFE, APRIL 1–7, 2022
Let the games begin
Coney Island’s Luna Park to reopen this weekend
BY BEN BRACHFELD
Coney Island’s iconic Luna
Park is set to reopen its gates to
revelers this weekend.
The park said on social media
that it will commence its summer
2022 season on Saturday, April
2, at 11 am, with a ceremonial
christening of the Cyclone with
an egg cream. Ninety-five lucky
guests will be able to skip the $10
charge and scream their socks off
for free, park honchos say, in celebration
of the 95th anniversary of
the iconic wooden rollercoaster’s
1927 grand opening; they’ll also
get a complementary egg cream.
On Saturday, for one day only,
Luna Park will provide parkgoers
with “Extraordinary Wristbands”
for just $20, allowing them
unlimited access to the glorious
weirdness of the People’s Playground
for just a single Andrew
Jackson.
“Our entire team is filled with
gratitude and enthusiasm as we
open our doors for the 2022 Season,”
said Alessandro Zamperla,
CEO of Central Amusement
International which operates
Luna Park, in a statement. “It is
incredibly exciting to finally
have
Luna Park
in Coney
Island filled
with guests
and joy after a very
long winter.”
The following weekend,
Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement
Park will open to similar
fanfare. On Saturday, April 10,
the park will host its 37th annual
“Blessing of the Rides.”
“I am very excited to welcome
all guests at the opening 2022
season of our very own iconic
amusement park, Luna Park in
Coney Island. I am also happy
to celebrate the legendary Coney
Island Cyclone’s 95th birthday,”
said area Councilmember
Ari Kagan. “We always should
be mindful that the fate and the
success of the America’s Playground
and the Coney Island
community are intertwined…
We are all in this together! Let’s
bring more smiles to kids and
adults and have real fun!”
The revelries will likely not
be as effervescent as last year’s
festivities, when former Mayor
Bill de Blasio joined Coney honchos
to ride the Cyclone as Luna
Park reopened for the first time
following a devastating missed
2020 season due to COVID-19.
After facing grim prospects of
survival during the pandemic,
a number of venerable Riegelmann
Boardwalk businesses
signed “favorable” lease extensions
that will allow iconic Coney
institutions to stay put for
the time being, after previously
being asked for exorbitant rent
increases pre-pandemic.
But at least one Coney institution
will not be around, at least
in an “official” capacity. Dick Zigun,
the “unofficial mayor” of
the southern Brooklyn peninsula
for 40 years, was removed
from office by Coney Island USA
late last year amid a protracted
dispute over the intellectual
property rights to the Mermaid
Parade and Coney Island Circus
Sideshow, both of which he
started and is indelibly linked
to, and regarding a pension as
the carny seeks to retire.
Zigun and Coney Island USA
have been in on-and-off bargaining
sessions over the terms of his
exit, and he has retained an intellectual
property lawyer.
OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
FLYING ACES: The Atlantic Aviator ride in Luna Park sends people soaring through the sky. Coney Island’s Luna Park will
reopen for 2022 on Saturday, April 2. File photos