BY ROSE ADAMS
Coney Island’s amusement
park will get a massive new rollercoaster
next summer that’s
sure to thrill riders of all ages.
The Phoenix, a 68-foot-tall
coaster, will be built beside
the famous, 100-year-old ferris
wheel in Deno’s Wonder
Wheel Amusement Park — giving
thrills to young dare devils
without the intensity of the
Thunderbolt or the Cyclone,
said one of the park’s operators.
“We’re going for something
that teenagers will still
scream for, but kids won’t be
intimidated by,” said Deno
(DJ) Vourderis, whose family
has operated Deno’s Wonder
Wheel Amusement Park
for decades. “It’s going to be
more intense than any family
coaster ever built before it.”
The rollercoaster will go 34
miles per hour — compared to
the Cyclone’s 60 miles per hour
— and will take riders nearly
upside down and around
sharp turns, Vourderis said.
The ride aims to offer parkgoers
BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY
DRX9000TM
COURIER L 4 IFE, JANUARY 1-7, 2021
a more moderate rollercoaster
that fi ts nicely into the
kids-friendly park.
“We weren’t trying to be a
Cyclone or a Thunderbolt, but
a Deno’s family coaster,” Vourderis
said. The ride will have
a 39 inch height minimum —
approximately the height of a
four year old.
The Phoenix, which will
hopefully be assembled sometime
in 2021, is the fi rst custom
rollercoaster made by the
coaster company Vekoma in
the United States outside the
Disney amusement parks, and
is the amusement park’s largest
investment yet — even bigger
than the famous Wonder
Wheel, Vourderis said.
The addition comes at a
challenging time for amusement
parks, which had to
remain closed all summer
WILD RIDE: The Phoenix, a new rollercoaster well-suited for kids and teens, is the newest ride to come to
Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park. Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park
because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vourderis said that
the new ride is a symbol of the
park’s rebirth.
“The reason we named it
the Phoenix is because of the
whole symbolism of the Phoenix
rising,” he said.
The family fi rst planned to
build the rollercoaster in 2018,
and purchased a run-down
corner of the amusement district
adjacent to their park.
And though the COVID-19
pandemic has strained the
amusement park’s fi nances,
the Vourderis family took out a
loan to build the coaster before
the pandemic hit and plans to
start building after ironing
out some technicalities.
The Vourderis family and
the owners of Luna Park have
repeatedly called on Gov. Andrew
Cuomo to issue reopening
guidelines for outdoor
amusement parks and grant
some fi nancial relief, but the
governor hasn’t issued any reopening
criteria yet.
What can locals do to ensure
the amusement park can
reopen? Wear a mask and stop
the spread of COVID-19, Vourderis
advised.
“Ask not what your country
can do for you, ask what
wearing a mask can do for
your country,” he said.
The rollercoaster has been
able to move forward in the
permitting process with help
of Councilman Mark Treyger,
state Sen. Diane Savino, the
New York City Economic Development
Corporation, and
the Department of City Planning,
Vourderis said.
New thrills!
New rollercoaster slated
for Deno’s in Coney Island
RELIEVES BACK PAIN
Surgeons perform an estimated 300,000 to 400,000
back surgeries every year. Annually, neurosurgeons
perform at least 100,000 operations for lumbar disc
disease alone, and orthopedic surgeons perform a
similar number. It is estimated that between 20% and
40% of these operations are unsuccessful.
That is why doctors from all over the country
are racing to acquire and get trained to operate the
DRX9000TM, an FDA approved device that is saving
thousands of Americans suffering from chronic back
pain from going under the knife.
Dr. Melinda Keller, who treats serious back
pain without surgery explains how the DRX9000TM
works... “Over 10 years ago, NASA began to notice
an unexpected result of space travel: Astronauts that
left with back pain would come back without it. After
investigated this now phenomenon here’s what they
found: During the anti-gravity state of the mission there
were decompressive forces on the intervertebral discs
and back pain was relieved. How? When you travel
through space, the effects of gravity are removed
and you are in a weightless state. All the pressure is
taken off your spine and discs. Even better — and
this is the key — a negative pressure is created. This
negative pressure actually sucks the herniated material
back into the disc and allows it to heal. Thanks to the
DRX9000TM, disc herniation sufferers finally have a
non-surgical solution.”
The main conditions the DRX9000TM has documented
success with are back pain, sciatica, herniated
and/or bulging discs (single or multiple), degenerative
disc disease, facet syndromes and a relapse or failure
following back surgery.
Anyone wishing to learn more about this new
FDA approved solution to back pain or to set up an
appointment for a free consultation call Dr. Keller’s
office at 718 234-6212 or visit Brooklyn Spine
Center, 5911 16th Ave., Brooklyn, New York 11204.
Brooklynspinecenter.com.
S f i d 3
Local doctor treats herniated and bulging discs,
sciatica, and serious lower back pain
WITHOUT BACK SURGERY
/Brooklynspinecenter.com
