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| HISTORY OF CONEY ISLAND |
| The Parachute Jump "They hooked us in and my father put his arm around me to keep me from falling out...and we began the ascent. The sounds gradually faded away and all we could hear was the wind in the cable. When it hit the top the parachute exploded. It had shock absorbers on the bottom and when it hit the shock absorbers you would bounce and swing like a marionette. I wasn't terrified at all. It was a dream come true." The Parachute Jump was bought by Edward Tilyou from the 1939 New York World's Fair. The ride was run at the Lifesavers exhibit and opened for the 1941 season. It stood 262 feet at its tallest point and had twelve chutes, each with a seat that held two passengers. Although tame by the standards of today's rides, the experience of sitting 250 feet in the air on a small seat was unnerving. Each seat of the ride was pulled up to the top of the tower where they would feel a slight jolt. All of the sudden the parachute would open with a "whoosh" and down the seat would fall back to the beach. The Parachute Jump was declared a Landmark on July 10, 1977, so the wrecking ball cannot touch it. The tower, painted a deep red, is known by many as Brooklyn's Eiffel Tower |
| "Everybody comes to Nathan Handwerker was born on June 14, 1892. He traveled to Belgium from Poland at the age of eighteen and two years later he stepped foot on American soil. He washed dishes and later worked the counter at Max's Busy Bee in Manhattan. He started to work weekends at Feltman's; splitting rolls and making deliveries for the famous restaruant. Although Feltman invented the hot dog, Handwerker brought it to the masses. Even today you can still see deep lines at the windows to Nathan's on a sunny s summer day. Let's go back and see how this hot dog Mecca began. The hot dog was invented by Charles Feltman in 1874. Although his fabulous restaurant (where Astroland Park currently sits) is gone the hot dog lives on at Nathan's on the corner of Stillwell and Surf Avenues. It is here that a resourceful immigrant bested Feltman's (the island's most successful restaurant). Between the first and second decades of the Twentieth Century Feltman's grew from serving 900,000 to 2,000,000 customers. One famous postcard depicted a clam, lobster, fish, an ear of corn, a hot dog, a crab and a mug of beer all walking to "Feltman's famous restaurant." One additional person who walked in was Nathan Handwerker. He responded to the HELP WANTED ad in the window and within a year (thanks in part to his ability to eat hot dogs for free while on the job) Handwerker had saved over $300 that he invested into the rental of a building at the corners of Stillwell and Surf Avenue. |
| The Tornado (1926) and the Thunderbolt (1925) had proven that there was a market for height, speed and intensity in the world of Coney's coasters. The ride debuted on June 26, 1927 (several weeks late) and exceeded expectations. Few roller roller coasters have achieved the legendary status that the Coney Island Cyclone has. Through good and bad times this roller coaster has weathered the storm and is still around to thrill a new generation of New Yorkers and coaster enthusiasts that flock to this amazing coaster. The Cyclone in many ways embodies the stereotypical Brooklynite: it is very rough and tumble, it can recall the "good old days" and it will kick your butt in the back seat given the chance. The drop off the 86-foot lift hill was, as George Plimpton wrote, "a vertigo-inducing drop," at fifty-three degrees. After that the cars flew into a fan turn where the coaster seemed to stop (yet threw people into fellow riders) and the train got yanked down and up into a large airtime hill that ran parallel to the first hill, into another fan turn above Surf Avenue. After that the coaster turned to an out and back layout, flying over the hills and slamming into the curves. Finally, riders screamed into the station as the skid brakes grabbed the trains. The ride was so intense that it made Charles Lindbergh say that, "A ride on the Cyclone is greater than flying an airplane at top speed." |
| During its heyday Coney Island was the place where the biggest and best of everything was built. So, when designer Charles Herman designed his 150-foot tall ferris wheel it was no surprise he picked the beach at Coney to be the home for his wheel. Construction began in 1918 and was finished in 1920 by Herald J. Garms and the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company. All of the Bethlehem Steel was forged on site and raised onto the ride's structure where it was attached. The wheel opened to rave reviews and has become one of the island's icons. Yes, the Wonder Wheel has the look of old Coney, but what makes this ferris wheel so special? It is all in the cars. If you listen to the Wonder Wheel turn one is likely to hear screams and some sort of rolling sound. That is the devilish charm of the wheel. The Wonder Wheel is unlike most ferris wheels in that it has eight stationery cars and sixteen that roll along tracks within the wheel's structure. When the wheel is in motion these tracks incline, causing the cars to roll back and forth." Each cars has two rows of two seats, both facing the same direction. As the engine turns the wheel the swinging cars stay stationery until they are a little above the wheel's axis and then quickly fly down about twenty feet of track until they swing to a stop. The wheel itself stands 150 feet high, has a diameter of 135 feet and holds 144 people at once. The ride was named a New York City Landmark in 1989 and very well taken care of. |
