Coney Island Attractions Reopening

NEW YORK (AP) —
The Cyclone rollercoaster at Coney Island in Brooklyn. (googlemaps)

Coney Island’s illustrious amusement parks are reopening Friday after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered them all last year.

The Wonder Wheel, the Cyclone rollercoaster and other attractions will welcome visitors late Friday morning. The rides will be open on weekends at first, with reduced capacity and other pandemic precautions.

After 529 days of closure, “it’s a very emotional day. We wanted to spread positivity,” Alessandro Zamperla, the president of the company that owns Luna Park — home of the Cyclone — said at an opening ceremony.

“It’s been very tough, but now is really a day of celebration, a day where we get together and we want to inspire people to come here, to really be able to have fun,” Zamperla said.

Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park owner DJ Vourderis told WNBC-TV that “Coney Island has always been a place where people have come to find comfort. To remember what it feels like to smile.

“We need that now more than ever,” he added.

Some 100 frontline workers will get the first rides on the Wonder Wheel, which turned 100 last year.

At Luna Park, which includes the 94-year-old Cyclone, six new attractions for youngsters are coming online, according to a note on its website from Zamperla, whose company is called Central Amusement International Inc.

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