Schwarz
View current page
...more recent posts
Coney's Island's iconic Parachute Jump is getting a new lease on light.
Less than dazzled by a lighting system installed on the 262-foot boardwalk landmark two years ago, the city yesterday began soliciting proposals from companies interested in creating a brighter, more dramatic illumination of Brooklyn's version of the Eiffel Tower.
The project is being pushed by Borough President Marty Markowitz, who says the old lighting system needs some "blinging up" and hopes to revive the classic thrill ride.
"Hey, if the Giants can beat the Patriots, there's no reason we can't ride the Parachute Jump in this new century," he said.
Markowitz, according to sources, considered the system installed in 2006 by renowned lighting artist Leni Schwendinger too "artsy," failing to capture Coney Island's flash.
The new $1.5 million project also includes refurbishing the bottom panel of the Parachute Jump, which was moved to Coney Island shortly after the 1939 World's Fair in Queens.
The ride ceased operations in 1968. It was declared a city landmark in 1989 and is part of a revamped Steeplechase Plaza that the city is hoping to create.
Charles Denson, a Coney Island historian, called the lighting project "symbolic to Coney Island's survival."