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Some Rides at Coney Island Unsafe, Inspector Says
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 30, 2008
Modified Jun 30, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 30, 2008
Modified Jun 30, 2008
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An amusement park ride inspector warns that some of the rides at Coney Island are so dangerous they should not be open for business. Last summer a man died after surgery to heal vertebrae fractured on the Cyclone, but the rides now targeted by “amusement-safety consultant” Walt Reiss don’t include the famous wooden roller coaster.
Reiss, who has previously trained New York City ride inspectors, tells the Post that the “Swingout” ride is so unsafe that, "if I had to sign my name to this ride, I would shut it down." The owner of the company in charge of the ride says he’s passed several inspections with no problems. But Reiss also deems the Scrambler and Ring of Fire rides to be potential deathtraps; the former because safety bars are badly aligned, the latter because of “serious problems” with support beams.
The three temporary rides are all on land owned by Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities, which is pushing a controversial plan to transform Coney Island into a year-round amusement, retail and hotel destination. In its current form, the plan would turn over management of all the rides to a single "world class operator."
Photo courtesy PabsV.
Tagged
coney island
cyclone
dangerous
deaths
died
injury
inspection
rides
ring of fire
safety
scrambler
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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