http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...oland_lot.html
Zamperla USA likely to bring roller coasters and thrill rides to Coney Island's Astroland lot
While Coney Island developers aren’t telling what new attractions on lot will be,
possible amusements could be the Moto Coaster (above) and Vertical Swing (below).
BY Erin Durkin
January 21st 2010
Coney Island will be alive with new rides this summer.
Zamperla USA, which operates Victorian Gardens, the popular kiddie park at Wollman Rink in Central Park, has won the bid to set up shop on a 7-acre chunk of land that includes the site of the now-shuttered Astroland.
The company is keeping mum on what it plans to bring in, but some of the flashiest attractions it makes include:
-The Disk-O Coaster - a combination roller coaster and spinning ride that spins riders in circles while going over drops on a track.
-The Vertical Swing - a high-speed swing ride 125 feet up in the air.
-The Giant Discovery - which swings riders from a giant pendulum and flips them upside down.
-The Flash Tower - which free-falls from 120 feet.
"Bring it all in," said freak show maestro Dick Zigun, whose Coney Island USA organization runs the annual Mermaid Parade.
"Hopefully, they will use Coney Island as an international showcase, and why not? It's New York City, after all," Zigun said.
"We're closing in on an agreement," Economic Development Corp. spokesman David Lombino said Wednesday of the final negotiations.
It will be a race against the clock to get a temporary park up and running in the coming months. The city wants at least some of the rides open by Memorial Day. The new amusements will go up on land the city bought for $95.6 million from developer Joe Sitt in November.
Zamperla could control the site for up to 10 years. After that, the city will look for a permanent developer to turn Coney into a year-round ride, entertainment and retail destination, in line with a massive development plan passed by the City Council last summer.
Zamperla beat out a consortium of American companies dubbed the Coney Island Amusement Group, which included Ripley's Entertainment and Steel Pier in Atlantic City.