Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Waterboard Thrill Ride Makes a Splash at Coney Island
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 6, 2008
Modified Aug 6, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 6, 2008
Modified Aug 6, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Photo courtesy Atomische.
As part of a Creative Time initiative called “Democracy in America: The National Campaign,” artist Steve Powers has turned a former photo booth on Coney Island into "The Waterboarding Thrill Ride," an animatronic diorama that depicts a prisoner being waterboarded. The Times describes the scene:
If you climb up a few cinderblock steps to the small window, you can look through the bars at a scene meant to invoke a Guantánamo Bay interrogation. A lifesize figure in a dark sweatshirt, the hood drawn low over his face, leans over another figure in an orange jumpsuit, his face covered by a towel and his body strapped down on a tilted surface.
Feed a dollar into a slot, the lights go on, and Black Hood pours water up Orange Jumpsuit’s nose and mouth while Orange Jumpsuit convulses against his restraints for 15 seconds. O.K., kids, who wants more cotton candy!
When asked if the installation is in keeping with the festive spirit of Coney Island, Powers ponders, “What’s more obscene? The official position that waterboarding is not torture, or our official position that it’s a thrill ride?”
He also tells the Times that his initial idea was “for real people to undergo real waterboarding, right there in real time. [Powers] would be the first volunteer, then he’d perform it on the next guy, who’d turn the hose on the next one, and so on.” But at the urging of his wife, he decided to settle on “robot waterboarding.” Which doesn’t impress Coney Island old-timers like Janice Carter, who says the robots are just a big scam: “It’s a gimmick. When they have the sideshow, you see real people. That’s legit. But this here? Uh-uh.” Clearly, this is Christopher Hitchens's big break.
Tagged
coney island
installation art
Waterboard Thrill Ride
waterboarding
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.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Yes, Stevie Wonder is playing MSG. No, you can't afford tickets. See these shows instead.
LCD Soundsystem also uses synthesizers. Ok, maybe not the same thing. But it's still a great month for music in NYC.
By
Hank Shteamer
Published Nov 3, 2026
'The Muppets Take Manhattan' in Queens and more November films in NYC
'Remember, remember the 5th of November' - and also all those other days - in theaters this month.
By
Emma Stefansky
Arts & Entertainment
'The Muppets Take Manhattan' in Queens and more November films in NYC
'Remember, remember the 5th of November' - and also all those other days - in theaters this month.
By
Emma Stefansky
Why LCD Soundsystem's 'New York, I Love You' is still the city's most honest anthem
By
Sonia Rao
Would you live on a Halloween block? These Hackensackers live for it.
By
James Ramsay
Owl pellets and period equity: What's happening at NYC's public libraries this November
By
Alec Hamilton
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .