Photo Album: Parachute Jump Lights Way to Year-Round Coney Island

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Photo Album: Parachute Jump Lights Way to Year-Round Coney Island

November 28, 2013 by Tricia

Coney Island Parachute Jump Lit at Dusk. October 17, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy

When the Parachute Jump’s dazzling new 8,000 LEDs debuted in June, Luna Park CEO Valerio Ferrari told ATZ the tower would be lit whenever the park was open. One of the things we’re thankful for this Thanksgiving is that after the park closed for the season at the end of October, the landmark tower’s light show has continued nightly. Photographers are jumping for joy. Coney Island’s Bruce Handy, whose photos are featured in this album, shoots the lighted Jump almost as frequently as he does sunsets.

Although there’s been no official announcement from the Parks Department or Luna Park, the unofficial word on the Boardwalk is the Jump is going to be lit year-round. This is exactly right considering the City’s stated goal ever since Mayor Bloomberg announced the Strategic Plan for the Future of Coney Island in 2005 has been to “transform the area into a year-round entertainment destination.”

The Parachute Jump lights the way to Coney Island for visitors. Brooklyn’s Eiffel Tower is visible from as far away as the Verrazano Bridge on the Belt Parkway. You can spot it from planes flying in and out of JFK. One of Bruce’s friends has taken photos of the Jump lights from his 37th floor of his office in lower Manhattan. “I also see it from the 71st St elevated D train platform,” says Bruce. “I’m sure it’s visible from the cruise ships leaving NY harbor every night and returning every morning at sunrise.” Currently, the Parachute Jump is lit nightly from 4:30pm until midnight or later (with the exception of random days when its timer is on the blink). Here’s hoping the Jump will remain lit year-round like the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower. Check the Coney Island webcam before you go.

Coney Island’s Parachute Jump first wowed visitors at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair. Afterwards, the ride became the star attraction at Steeplechase, Coney Island’s world-famous amusement park, which closed forever in 1964. The pier and the Jump tower are the sole survivors of the park that once billed itself “Coney Island’s Only Funny Place, Where 25,000 People Laugh at One Time.”