CONEY Island’s amusement district has Luna Park enveloping Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park and in the center of Deno’s park is an artifact from Astroland, which entertained visitors between 1962 and 2008. When it was built, this rocket was a contemporary of the early space age, when Buck Rogers appeared in the comic books, the Jetsons on television, and towers atop needles appeared in Seattle and Flushing Meadows, and President Kennedy promised manned flights to the moon.
Containing 26 seats, it offered a simulation flight into space. By the mid-1970s, the space craze was waning and the decommissioned ride was moved to the rooftop of Gregory and Paul’s restaurant on the boardwalk, which was later renamed Paul’s Daughter. When Astroland closed in 2008 the Albert family donated this object to the city, which then trucked it to a Staten Island parking lot where it gathered rust.
Heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the rocket received a second life from a public donation campaign that brought it back to Coney Island. Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park agreed to host the rocket and the Coney Island History Project had it painted, installed new seats, historical signs, and a short film depicting Astroland.
The signs and film, titled The Rocket Has Landed, were created by Coney Island History Project director Charles “Coneyologist” Denson.
The amusement district is inspired by its storied history: Luna Park opened in 2020 on the site of Astroland, reviving the name and imagery of the original Luna Park that operated nearby from 1903 through 1944. Its name is also commemorated with the Luna Park co-ops and Luna Playground.
Among the rides at Luna Park, Thunderbolt and Steeplechase honor popular rides from the past. Leti’s Treasure honors Shoot the Chutes. Before Astroland, the rocket’s site hosted Feltman’s, the original hot dog eatery. Luna Park pays honor to Charles Feltman too.
At the same time, the Wonder Wheel and Cyclone will always be here, both of them landmarked by the city.
Kevin’s history with Coney Island extends to the beginning of Forgotten-NY, with the first photo essay published here in 1998.
Sergey Kadinsky is the author of Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs (2016, Countryman Press), adjunct history professor at Touro University and the webmaster of Hidden Waters Blog.
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8 comments
Like Astroland’s Rocket, some other rides have gotten a new lease on life. Some 55 years ago, my parents took us on a vacation to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Looking for something for us to do, they found Pirates World, an amusement park in Dania, to which we drove for an evening out. They had a log flume ride, a fright house. a full-sized pirate ship, and a few others, but I was blown away when I saw one particular ride – The Steeplechase! Even then, I was a “histo-nerd” and immediately realized that this was the original ride from Steeplechase Park in Brooklyn, which had just closed a few years earlier. It was amazing! My parents couldn’t get me off it – I must have taken five or six rides. Pirates World only lasted for about six years and closed in 1973.
It turned out that several other of the Pirates World attractions were second-hand from New York. The log flume and the former Belgian Aerial Tower came from the ’64-’65 Worlds Fair. I have not been able to find any further reference to the Steeplechase ride, and assume that it became scrap when Pirates World closed.
I forgot to add that my favorite Astroland jingle was the 90s. It was a rap.
To the Cylcone sounds
Touch the sky
Gotta move those feet
C’mon take a ride
Move yourself to the magic land
It’s Astroland
At Coney Island
K.Buettner-
I assume you’re talking about the horses that rode on rails around
the outside of Steeplechase.If so I kind of doubt they were just scrapped.
Usually every swinging-dick collector and antique dealer in the land snatches
stuff like that up when the call goes out that its for sale.
Chris –
Yes, it’s a fair chance that some of the actual horses are around, but this was 1973, when nostalgia for such things may not have been as strong as now. Hopefully a few are around, somewhere. Fifty-two years ago, they may have just been considered something old and not worth the bother. The steel track on which they horses ran was the original one and was most definitely lost for scrap. Horses “ran” along it, totally gravity-fed, rising and falling and turning along the route. It was wonderful! Even if it were not sold for scrap, the ride would violate most safety standards to which he current amusement park industry is held. Taking a fast-moving horse on a ride that was engineered seventy-five years earlier was quite a thrill.
Coney Island Museum has one
There was a very similar rocket ship ride in Atlantic City on the Steel Pier. It rose from its boarding position to about a 45 degree angle (not completely vertical) and the seats were mounted on a platform that would move forward and back to simulate acceleration and deceleration. After going through space, a space monster on an asteroid tried to stop the rocket, and, of course, was blasted off the nose with a ray gun. I never saw the one in Coney, but from the pix, it looks to be a twin. I wonder how many more might have existed around the country?
I weakly recollect a similar ride like this at Palisades Amusement Park. Or is this the same one??
I have seen reference made to a J.W. Cawdry Company, as the manufacturer of the Steeplechase Horses at the park in Coney Island. It is likely that they sold other rides to other amusement parks, but I have not been able to find out more about the company.