Nope, this is not the warm up for Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, though it’s the same corner. Stillwell Avenue was a sea of runners after Saturday’s Brooklyn Half Marathon, which is turning into a huge crowd-pleaser for Coney Island. New York Road Runners called it “The Race to the World’s Most Famous Hot Dog.”
More than 14,000 runners finished out of the 15,000 who registered, compared to last year’s tally of just under 6,000. The reconfigured 13.1 mile course took them through Grand Army Plaza, around Prospect Park, down Ocean Parkway, and along the Coney Island Boardwalk to a finish line just shy of the Scream Zone.
Our favorite tweet about the Brooklyn Half came from the venerable New York Athletic Club:
Guess which Coney Island event is televised. 14,000 people completing a half marathon or 10 people downing 300 hot dogs? #joeychestnutftw!
— NYAC Track and Field (@NYACTrack_Field) May 20, 2012
If that other borough’s half marathon, the one that starts in Central Park and ends at South Street Seaport, got two hours of live television coverage for the first time this year, why not Brooklyn’s? Here’s photographer Bruce Handy’s slide show of the race, from the construction of the finish line outside Ruby’s Bar to the runners arriving in Coney Island and sprinting past the landmark Cyclone and Wonder Wheel to victory.
Zamperla’s plans for Go Karts and a SkyCoaster on City-owned “Parcel C” in Coney Island were unveiled last November and on Friday the launch tower of the new thrill ride was put into place with a crane. Coney photographer Bruce Handy’s stunning photos juxtapose the SkyCoaster with the great-granddaddy of vertical thrill rides– the 250-foot tall tower of the landmark Parachute Jump. From the 1940s until it closed in 1964, the Jump was the high thrill in Coney Island and to this day it has supporters who clamor for it to be retrofit and made operable again. Will the new high thrill ride on the Boardwalk win them over?
The Coney Island SkyCoaster will be called Boardwalk Flight, according to Luna Park’s website: “Take flight over the Atlantic Ocean at heights of over 200 feet. Not thrilling enough? Try it at over 60 mph! This Sky-Coaster will propel you mid-air giving you a sky-diving sensation.” A SkyCoaster combines elements of skydiving and hang-gliding. Riders are harnessed into “flight suits,” winched to the top of a tower and then swing through the sky as they drop towards the ground. From the time you’re strapped in to the finish, each “flight” lasts about five minutes. At Scream Zone, the cost of the new ride will be 25/20/15 credits, which at $1 per credit equals $25/$20/$15, though bonus credits are available with the purchase of a Luna Card. (Update: When the ride opened on Memorial Day Weekend, the charge for riding was a flat fee of $20.)
A spokesman from Luna Park told ATZ the price of riding the SkyCoaster depends on the number of riders–one, two or three–since up to three people can ride at a time. A solo skydive over the Boardwalk will cost you $25, but if you ride with two friends you’ll each pay $15. Manufactured by SkyCoaster Inc., the ride debuted in 1993 and can be found at over 75 parks around the world, from the Jersey Shore to Brazil and South Korea. In gated amusement parks, it’s typically an “upcharge attraction,” meaning that an additional fee is charged to riders who have already paid general admission to the park. Here’s the official video. And here’s a vid of three guys riding the 180-foot SkyCoaster at Six Flags Darien Lake.
Along with the Coney Island Raceway–as the Go Kart track will be called–Boardwalk Flight will be part of an expanded Scream Zone. Earlier this year Central Amusement International, the park division of Zamperla, shelved the idea of creating a third Coney Island park called “Speed Zone” on Parcel C. In March, Scream Zone manager Beau Berni told ATZ that the new rides will instead operate as part of Scream Zone, which is just across Stillwell Avenue and has four rides, including two Zamperla coasters. The SkyCoaster and Go Karts are scheduled to open on May 25th.
No, ATZ is not giving away any prizes! But now that Coney Island’s season is underway we will occasionally feature photos of some of our favorite carnival prizes. This leggy lamp is one of the big prizes at Skin the Wire on West 12th Street near the Boardwalk. Good luck!
Amusing the Zillion 