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Story by Tricia Vita Photos by Jim McDonnell
This season Coney Island’s landmark “Cyclone,” “Wonder Wheel,” and “Parachute Jump” welcomed four high-thrill rides to New York, including two new coasters. Visible from the beach, boardwalk, pier, and subway terminal, Scream Zone is the second amusement park built here in less than a year by Zamperla’s Central Amusement International (CAI). Its debut rivaled the excitement of Memorial Day weekend in 2010 when Zamperla’s Luna Park opened on the first parcel of the 6.9 acres purchased by New York City with the goal of revitalizing Coney Island’s amusement area.
Last year’s stats were an impressive start: Luna Park drew 400,000 guests who took 1.7 million rides on its 19 new attractions, and a succession of sunny weekends brought 14 million people to Coney Island’s beach and boardwalk. “I think Coney Island is going to be even more successful in the years to come,” says Valerio Ferrari, CEO of Zamperla USA and Central Amusement International, which has a 10-year lease from the city’s Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and works closely with the agency in a singularly successful public/private partnership.
“It’s just the beginning of the revitalization of the entire area. We’re just doing baby steps at this point,” Ferrari notes. “When people start to realize how different Coney Island is going to be, more people will come and more entrepreneurs will arrive to enhance the entire environment.”
Like Luna Park, which pays homage to the 1903 original with its fabulous entrance gate, Scream Zone tips its hat to the thrills of George C. Tilyou’s Steeplechase Park, which closed in 1964. Zamperla’s Moto Coaster—featuring a train of ponies—was christened “Steeplechase Coaster” in honor of the legendary horse race ride that provided Tilyou’s park its name. The “Zenobio”— Zamperla’s Turbo Force—spins riders at 70 mph and is emblazoned with Scream Zone’s very popular logo, a manic version of the Steeplechase Funny Face. There is also a “Sling Shot” reverse bungee ride from Funtime that shoots riders 200 feet in the air; the new attraction has caused a sensation since it is as much of a show as a ride.
The second new coaster is “Soarin’ Eagle” and occupies part of the block on Stillwell Avenue where the “Tornado” thrilled until it was destroyed by fire in 1977. “Our trade name for the ‘Soarin’ Eagle’ is the Volare,” says Ferrari, a name that means “to fly” in Italian. “It has a new restraining device that makes the car much more comfortable.”
The night view of Scream Zone becomes more dramatic as custom lighting packages go in this summer. Multicolored LEDs flash on the poles that anchor the “Sling Shot,” while floodlights bathe the “Steeplechase Coaster’s” white track in red, yellow, and pink.
 Future of ‘Cyclone’
CAI has also taken over the operation of the city-owned “Cyclone” roller coaster for the 2011 season. Carol Hill Albert, whose family operated the coaster for more than 35 years, transferred the license to Luna Park to keep the ride running without interruption and its employees in place. Albert notes the cost of operating the “Cyclone,” including rent to the city, insurance, and maintenance, far exceeded the income of operating the ride as a stand-alone attraction after Astroland closed in 2008.
The city’s parks department issued an RFP to operate the “Cyclone” for 15 years starting in 2012, which attracted interest from a few others in addition to CAI. But CAI is widely perceived as the front-runner for the job because it operates Luna Park across the street and can put the coaster on a pay-one-price ticket as the Alberts did at Astroland Park to subsidize the coaster’s operation. The RFP also allows for maximized income by putting in food concessions and amusement rides around the perimeter of the ride as had been done historically. There is also the controversial fact that the RFP proposes replacing the historic four-car trains, the last of their kind.
For the 2011 season, CAI initiated changes in the queue, including a separate line for the front car and a wheelchair accessible ramp, as well as the elimination of cash re-rides with the introduction of electronic ticketing.
Other Improvements, Additions to Coney Island
The “Cyclone” and Luna Park, along with neighboring Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park and the rest of Coney Island’s individually owned rides (62 in all) opened as usual on Palm Sunday. Beginning in 2010, Luna Park extended the Coney Island season from Columbus Day through Halloween with a pay-one-price haunted attraction featuring a maze. “We’re going to do it again this year. Having the ‘Cyclone’ and Scream Zone open is going to make it a much bigger event,” says Ferrari. “We’ll have two or three mazes, and we’re also considering other things to make it more attractive.”
 Luna Park introduced the LunaTic Dance Team this season, which performs at special events like Luna Park’s birthday party and an Italian Street Fair at Scream Zone. “They do a choreographed dance, then follow it up with limbo, hula hoop, and freeze dance contests and giveaways for guests that are watching,” says Johanna Orozco- Zaki, CAI’s marketing and events manager.
Luna Park also has partnerships with its neighbor, the New York Aquarium, offering a combo admission called Thrills and Gills. LunaTic Day at the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game will have the dancers giving out cards for free rides to the first 1,400 guests while Miss Cyclone throws out the first pitch.
“It’s unique; it’s not something that had necessarily been tried before,” says Nathan Bliss, president of the Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC), an offshoot of the NYCEDC (where he is a vice president), of the relationship with CAI. “There’s really no perfect model for Coney Island, but we’ve found a structure that delivered some pretty impressive results and so far the reaction from New Yorkers and visitors has been enthusiastic.”
Among the CIDC’s jobs are marketing and tourism, including the very successful Coney Island Fun Guide website and Facebook page, which had some 35,000 followers at press time. The agency also works with nonprofits to organize job fairs for local residents, brings in street artists to improve the streetscape, provides supplementary street sanitation, and launches new events such as this summer’s free outdoor film series on the beach.
The city will break ground on Steeplechase Plaza this summer next to the “Parachute Jump,” where the restored B&B Carousell—purchased by the city in 2005 for almost $2 million—will be installed in a new pavilion. The plaza is expected to open in 2013 and will also feature recreation and retail.
“We’re at a turning point in the whole process here where increasingly this is a changing landscape,” says Bliss. “There are opportunities for new business to come and occupy new space that’s being developed, and old space that’s been underutilized.”
Tricia Vita is a New York-based writer who frequently covers Coney Island. She can be reached at hello@triciavita.com.
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