Day: August 26, 2024

CONEY ISLAND — The famous Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster in New York City was shut down indefinitely after coming to a stop mid-ride this week. The 97-year-old wooden roller coaster at Luna Park was on its ascent on Thursday when ride operators took it out of service due to a damaged chain sprocket in the motor […]

The post Famed Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster is shut down after mid-ride malfunction appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

Summer break ended on a speedy note for young racers who participated in the 17th annual Soap Box Derby on 17th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues in South Slope on Aug. 24.

The racing action, presented by Open Source Gallery and KoKo NYC, was the highlight of the latter’s summer workshop program, where kids designed and built creative gravity-powered soap boxes from recycled materials. They also learned how to construct engineering features like steering and brakes from KoKo NYC’s teaching artists and teen counselors.

Monika Wuhrer, co-founder of Open Source Gallery, told Brooklyn Paper that it was “fun” supporting the kids’ ideas and projects.

“They come up with very, very unique ideas,” she said.

A few hundred spectators lined both sides of the Brooklyn street-turned-race track, cheering on the drivers as they raced downhill in their contraptions from the pole position at the top of 17th Street to the finish line. A four-panel jury had their work cut out for them as they judged the 60 entries — among them Anti-Anteater, Swamp Thing, and the Geometrical Denominator — on speed, design, originality, and engineering from 1 to 5.

All soap boxes made it to the finish line without difficulty, except for “The Caribbean,” which had a delayed start due to technical problems. Shortly after leaving its pole position, a wheel fell off, crushing pilots Sebastian and Hank’s dream of placing in the top tier. However, teaching artists and teen counselors stepped up and carried the soap box — along with its drivers — across the finish line, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Nine-year-old Ruby Giles scored a perfect 5 in each category and placed first in the Grand Prize category with her “Super Skate” soap box, inspired by her pair of roller skates. It was Ruby’s second time participating in the program and the derby, and she was thrilled about the perfect score.

“I was like, ‘Are they going to do five again? Please do five again,’” Ruby told Brooklyn Paper.

Joshua Hung placed second in the Grand Prize category with his airplane design titled “Red Baron.”

“I really wanted to do an airplane,” Hung said. “So I thought of the Red Baron, the famous fighter from World War I, and I painted it red with black stripes and added a propeller. And it fits together.”

Waylon Douglasson raced down the hill in a soap box titled “Tiger.” It was Waylon’s inaugural race, and he told Brooklyn Paper he would be back next year.

“I wanted to make something like a sports car,” the 10-year-old said. “We made the body, and then I added some stuff to the front of it.”

Sal, who watched the creative spectacle with her friends Connor and Tess from the sideline, said she learned about the event on social media.

“I’ve seen soapbox races online, and I think it’s so cool to see that there are kids doing this. It feels like a block party,” Sal said.

Her friend Tess added, “These kids are able to be creative. [The derby] feels very community-oriented. It’s not like a spectacle. Everyone knows each other.”

Connor thought it was an exciting event.

“I grew up on Long Island. We didn’t have anything like this. I think it would have been a lot of fun to have something in my neighborhood that was similar to, like, an event like this,” he said.

Доктор Фаучи – происхождение КОВИД это Китай и Ухань , и он сбежал из лаборатории – утверждает американский адвокат Борис Палант. 1000 процентов существование то, […]

Чтобы сократить количество комаров, Департамент здравоохранения и психической гигиены Нью-Йорка будет распылять средства в некоторых районах Манхэттена и Бруклина в понедельник, 26 августа, с 20:30 […]

The Coney Island Cyclone remains closed indefinitely after the iconic rollercoaster malfunctioned and riders had to be evacuated.

The near-century-old wooden coaster’s train got stuck on the rails mid-ride on Thursday. Staff from Luna Park, which operates the historic coaster, escorted passengers off the steep, rickety tracks and indefinitely halted the ride’s operation, pending repairs. No injuries were reported in the ordeal.

The city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) then inspected the Cyclone on Friday and hit Luna Park with code violations. The ride cannot reopen until the park fixes them and passes a DOB inspection.

DOB said that the ride had malfunctioned due to a “crack on the chain sprocket,” and Luna Park was hit with violations including failing to maintain the ride and failing to inform the city in a timely manner.

A spokesperson for Luna Park noted the 97-year-old rollercoaster is “meticulously maintained and tested daily,” and said evacuations for safety are not uncommon.

“We will reopen the Cyclone roller coaster when the repair is complete and the ride passes its DOB inspection,” said the Luna Park spokesperson.

The Cyclone opened in 1927 during Coney Island’s heyday, and its long history mirrors that of the People’s Playground. By the mid-20th century, the rollercoaster had deteriorated in tandem with Coney Island’s amusement parks, and was slated for the wrecking ball until being saved in the 1970s. The ride has malfunctioned and shut down several times since then.

On Sunday, visitors to Coney Island found the Cyclone ticket booth shuttered, the ride’s entrance closed off — and the familiar clacking sound of the coaster climbing the tracks, followed by screams of delight conspicuously absent. 

Clark Ivers and Yasmine Larasati, who came to Coney Island on Sunday from their homes in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights, were disappointed that the ride was shut down, but relieved they didn’t wind up on the ill-fated ride Thursday.

“I feel kind of relieved that that didn’t happen to me,” Ivers said. “She’s an adrenaline junkie, but I’m not, and this was on her list to do for a while.”

“But yeah, I would like to be able to do it. That kind of sucks,” he continued. “You know, it’s like an iconic thing, it’s nice to check it off the bucket list and now I can’t.”

Another Brooklynite visiting Coney on Sunday, Shatoya Artis of Sheepshead Bay, said she has never ridden the Cyclone partly because she believes the ride — at nearly 100 years old, being “older than my grandmother,” as she told amNewYork Metro — isn’t safe.

“The wood, it doesn’t look stable. And you know, it would be wise to change the wood things…because it’s not safe at all,” Artis remarked. “It hasn’t been safe for years. Everyone’s scared. They get on this ride specifically because they are afraid of it not being safe.”

Still, Artis said she would be willing to ride the Cyclone once repairs are made and if the park can prove the ride is safe.

“For the first time in my life? Yes,” she said. “After they did a lot of work to fix it and ensure everyone’s safety, absolutely. But I think they never did that, until something happened.”

This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site amNewYork Metro