Coney Island Ready To Kick Off Another Summer Season With 2 New Rides
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- There was nothing wonderful about the weather Thursday, but that didn't keep the press, the mayor and a Brooklyn-born actor away from Coney Island.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was at Brooklyn's seaside amusement park to announce the summer hot spot will open this Memorial Day weekend with new rides made in Italy.
1010 WINS' Stan Brooks reports
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Boardwalk Flight, a skycoaster that hurls riders 100 feet up and swings them over the boardwalk, and Coney Island Raceway, a new go-kart track, are the latest rides being added to the line-up at the Scream Zone, which was inaugurated last year.
"I've never been that big on roller coasters, I don't know why," Bloomberg told CBS 2's Vanessa Murdock.
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The Cyclone opened 85 years ago, but on Thursday a new amusement, the Megawhirl, was hoping to make its mark.
Actor Tony Danza flew in to be the first to take a spin, but the teeming rain meant no ride and a move indoors, Murdock reported.
"What a time to open Coney Island. It's raining like crazy," Danza said.
"It's always sunny in Coney Island," Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said Thursday. "When I was a kid summer meant one thing, and it wasn't the Hamptons, believe me, not even at my age today. It's to the beach and fun at Coney Island."
Coney Island is undergoing a makeover that will eventually add restaurants, movie theaters, stores and hotels to a neighborhood that had fallen into seedy disrepair.
On a busy hot July Day, you can have as many as 1 million people on the beach and boardwalk on Coney Island.
Coney Island and all city beaches open for the season on Saturday.
Will you be going to Coney Island this summer? Let us know below...
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