S♦P♦E♦C♦T♦A♦C♦U♦L♦A♦R C♦O♦N♦E♦Y I♦S♦L♦A♦N♦D
FULL CIRCLE
Deno’s Wonder Wheel at 99
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Big wheel keep on turning!
Coney Island’s oldest remaining ride, Deno’s
Wonder Wheel, is spinning towards its centenary.
The 150-foot-tall, 99-year-old landmarked hoop has
weathered the ups and downs of the People’s Playground
since it was erected in 1920, and continues
to hold its own alongside newer rides, according to a
second-generation owner.
“What was old once is new again! It’s very rewarding
to see a 99-year-old piece of machinery
that’s a marvel right next to the virtual-reality ride
Stop the Zombies, and both are equally busy,” said
Dennis Vourderis, who owns and operates the wheel
and its adjacent amusement park with his brother
Steve.
The wheel was built on site and opened on Memorial
Day 1920, back when the area was dominated by
Victorian amusements and you still had to pay to access
the beach, according to a local history buff.
“This comes from a different world,” said Charlie
Denson, director of the Coney Island History Project.
“You look at old pictures of Coney Island with
30 COURIER LIFE, JUNE 21-27, 2019
the ancient rides, and all of them are gone.”
The Wonder Wheel has outlived icons such as the
Comet roller coaster, the original Thunderbolt, and
all of Steeplechase Park — which had its own Ferris
wheel, and was razed in 1966 by local developer (and
father of the current President) Fred Trump .
Unlike its fallen predecessor in Steeplechase
Park, the Wonder Wheel was a true innovation; combining
a Ferris Wheel’s stationary cars on the outside
with swinging cars within its rim, offering both
a thrilling ride and a slow ascent to stunning views
that stretch from the distant isle of Manhattan to the
Atlantic Ocean — a vista that has made the ride a
hotspot for romantic gestures, according to Denson.
“There are more marriage proposals in that than
any other ride in Coney Island’s history,” he said.
Dennis’s father Deno, a Greek immigrant who
left his native country at the age of 14, bought the
wheel in 1983 from owner Fred Garms, whose father
Herman was its fi rst owner-operator, and christened
it Deno’s Wonder Wheel.
Deno had promised the 400,000-pound ring to his
future wife Lula when he proposed to her in 1947,
and once their dream became a reality, the couple
dedicated their lives to meticulously maintaining it,
taking its cars down for servicing at the end of each
season and constantly giving the structure a new
lick of paint, a ritual that continues to this day, according
to Vourderis.
The Vourderis family’s hard work paid off with a
perfect safety record over its entire history; the city
honored the ride by landmarking it in 1989.
Dennis said he and family continue to take inspiration
from his parents’ hard work and optimism
during tougher times as the giant circle reels in another
99 years.
“I remember my dad covered in grease, working
his butt off and putting in a labor of love to restore
it, and my mom standing beside him all the way,”
he said. “He knew that some day this place would
come back big time, he knew it would come full circle
again.”
Take a ride on Deno’s Wonder Wheel 3059 W. 12th
St., between Bowery Street and Riegelmann Boardwalk
in Coney Island, (718) 372–2592, www.denoswonderwheel.
com. Open dailyt at noon. $10.
PROMISE KEPT: Deno promised to get his future wife Lula the
Wonder Wheel in 1947, when he proposed to her. Deno and Lula
in front of their wheel in the 1980s. Dennis Vourderis
FOUNDING FATHER: Deno Vourderis with his sons Steve and Dennis in front of the
Wonder Wheel in 1992. Newsday/Phillip Davies
FAMILY BUSINESS: Dennis Voudaris, left, and his brother Steve with their mother
Lula, who passed away in February 2019 at 87. Dennis Vourderis
/www.denos-wonderwheel.com
/www.denos-wonderwheel.com
/www.denos-wonderwheel.com