Deno's Wonder Wheel: Coney Island's family-owned ferris wheel spins for over a century
"For me, the Wonder Wheel is the most romantic ride in the world," DJ Vourderis told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
Elle McLogan is CBS News New York's reporter covering the borough of Queens. As a multimedia journalist, she researches, shoots, reports, and edits her own stories.
She joined CBS New York in September 2017 as a digital reporter for The Dig with Elle McLogan, a series unearthing gems in local food and culture, which she created, hosted, shot, produced, and edited. Past episodes can be found at http://CBSNewYork.com/TheDig.
In 2021, Elle won an Emmy Award in the category of Lifestyle - Short Form Content and a Folio Award in the Arts & Culture Feature category. In 2018, she was named Outstanding Social Media Personality by the New York State Broadcasters Association.
Born in Manhattan and raised on Long Island, Elle moved to North Carolina to attend Davidson College. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude honors.
After graduation, Elle moved to China. She spent four years working in Shanghai as a writer and host for television programs and documentaries with a focus on food and culture.
If you have a tip for Elle, you can email her at queenstip@cbs.com.
"For me, the Wonder Wheel is the most romantic ride in the world," DJ Vourderis told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
"There's nothing like a very busy lunchtime. It's like a symphony orchestra," co-owner Michael Brummer told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
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"Our store is pretty much like a dinosaur," co-owner Anthony Pierdipino told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
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"We want the common plants, but we really love the uncommon plants," co-owner Christan Summers told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
"It makes me feel good when the people go out and they feel confident in what they're wearing," owner Pablo Vargas told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
"I always like to describe it as a little taste of England," owner Jennifer Myers-Pulidore told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
"It's one of the few professions where you work with your heart, your hands, and your head at the same time," co-owner Tom Geppel told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
"That was my dream, to open a small business here," co-owner Pompeyo "Papa" Martinez told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
"We whip the whipped cream by hand. We make our hot fudge, caramel, most of our syrups," owner Vito Citrano told CBS2's Elle McLogan.
"Most of my customers are regulars. They come almost every day, and they feel that this is their home," Panagiotis Binioris said.
For hard-to-find flavors from faraway continents, professional chefs and home cooks flock to a specialty food store founded in 1944.
Multiple generations are working side-by-side to pursue a dream they didn't know they had.
"When you can say you've kept a customer, a loyal customer, for 60, 70, 80 years, through the generations, then you know that you've had a successful business," co-owner Lou Di Palo told CBS2's Elle McLogan.