The Cyclone, an iconic roller coaster on New York's Coney Island, turned 85 years old last month. Is as popular as ever, known around the world and carefully maintained. The roller coaster cars -- which hold up to 24 people each -- are the originals from 1927. Known as the Big Momma of Coney Island, the ride thrills an estimated 250,000 people from April through October each year. The city declared the coaster an official landmark in 1988, and in 1991 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
On Saturday, June 30, the Cyclone was celebrated with a birthday party, and USA Today reports that rides were reduced to their original price -- 25 cents. The regular price these days is $8.
The ride sits on the boardwalk at the corner of Brooklyn's Surf Avenue and West 10th Street. It reaches speeds of approximately 60 miles per hour with 12 drops along 2,640 feet of wooden track. The Cyclone's operations manager, Jennifer Tortorici, said that even with it's advanced age, the turbulence on the ride is so forceful that sometimes passengers' belongings are torn away from them by the coaster's rapid movement. People have lost keys, cellphones, dentures, and more -- even underwear.
Though the coaster is inspected for safety up to three times each season, there have been instances where people have died on the ride -- first in 1985 and again in 2008. The sense of danger, however, also works to its advantage. There's a legend that a mute coal minor named Emilio Franco spoke his first words when he went down one of the drops. "I feel sick," he allegedly said. Famous pilot Charles Lindbergh once said, according to The New York Times, that riding the Cyclone was "greater than flying an airplane at top speed"
To experience the Cyclone for yourself, you can take the F or the Q subway train to the West 8th Street - New York Aquarium stop in Brooklyn
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
