New York to Challenge Las Vegas: World's Tallest Ferris Wheel

New York Challenging Las Vegas for Tallest Ferris Wheel



Versus....



Source. Las Vegas Sun


Personally, I cannot wait for these to be built.
I hate amusement park rides with the exception of the ferris wheel, bumper cars, and go karts!

Current record holder: Singapore Flyer. 541 ft. (165m)
The "High Roller" wheel planned at the LINQ in LV is to be 550 ft. (167m).
The proposed wheel in NYC is to be 625ft. (190m).

there have been six world record holders in the modern era...

1989: the Cosmo Clock 21 was built for the YES '89 Yokohama Exposition at Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama, Japan.
Originally constructed with a height of 107.5 metres (353 ft), it was dismantled in 1997
and then in 1999 relocated onto a taller base which increased its overall height to 112.5 metres (369 ft).

1997: the Tempozan Ferris Wheel, in Osaka, Japan, opened to the public on July 12, and is 112.5 metres (369 ft) tall.

1999: the Daikanransha at Palette Town in Odaiba, Japan, is 115 metres (377 ft) tall.

2000: the London Eye, in London, UK, is 135 metres (443 ft) tall.
Although officially opened on December 31, 1999,
did not open to the public until March 2000, because of technical problems.
It is still the tallest wheel in Europe and the Western Hemisphere.

2006: the Star of Nanchang, in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, opened for business in May and is 160 metres (525 ft) tall.

2008: the Singapore Flyer, in Singapore, is 165 metres (541 ft) tall, and currently the world's tallest Ferris wheel.
It started rotating on February 11 and officially opened to the public on March 1.

Source.Wikipedia

Why on earth would they build it in Staten Island? What a pit hole. Brooklyn (Coney Island) would have been the logical choice, even Central Park would've been much smarter as a draw. No one is going to go to Staten Island for entertainment. I only use SI to get to NJ on my way to AC.

Quote: NickyDim

Why on earth would they build it in Staten Island? What a pit hole. Brooklyn (Coney Island) would have been the logical choice, even Central Park would've been much smarter as a draw. No one is going to go to Staten Island for entertainment. I only use SI to get to NJ on my way to AC.

As an ex-New Yorker, I have got to agree with this.
The only way to save Staten Island is to not falsely try to save it. It won't work.

Quote: Paigowdan

As an ex-New Yorker, I have got to agree with this.
The only way to save Staten Island is to not falsely try to save it. It won't work.

The view from that spot is awesome, and maybe a little more dramatic over the water.
The view from within the city (ie manhattan) isnt too shabby though either.
I can't think of many places in manhattan where this could be built.
Coney island does not have great city views....
But how many people are going to want to take the twenty minute ferry ride out for this?

Quote:

But how many people are going to want to take the twenty minute ferry ride out for this?

Or pay $13 to cross the Verrazano.

Quote: WongBo

The view from that spot is awesome, and maybe a little more dramatic over the water.
The view from within the city (ie manhattan) isnt too shabby though either.
I can't think of many places in manhattan where this could be built.
Coney island does not have great city views....
But how many people are going to want to take the twenty minute ferry ride out for this?

WongBo, the Ferry ride is a lot more than twenty minutes. Considering that you have to leave mid-town to get to the battery, (- that is, IF you are starting out in mid-town) - then wait for the next Ferry (up to 30 mins), etc. it is a minimum of 90 minutes each way, if lucky. This adds Three hours to the round trip - when in Manhattan, the whole of the core of New York is in a 30-minute commute by mass transit.
The outer Boroughs ("Counties") that Manhattanites visit on a weekend for some really valid reason, like art Galleries, shows, or work, would be the Bronx and Brooklyn....Maybe Sunnyside in Queens for a rare Latin Festival, or an art showing....

Staten Island is a surburban residence community that is less accessible than any other borough, and has less to offer in the arts, entertainment, and recreation than the rest of the city; functionally, Staten Island is an extention of New Jersey via the Goethals Bridge, - aside from the Ferry to the City. 99.9999% of the "cultural traffic" goes FROM Staten Island TO the City, not the other way around.

In Las Vegas terms, visiting Staten Island (if you do NOT commute from there) would be akin to visiting a $5 casino in Laughlin as a reason from Las Vegas. Or Deep into Boulder City....to buy a wheel barrel.....or attend a distant newphew's band practice, at his middle school band rehersal there....or something to that effect....this simply does not happen....

A Ferris wheel? - for a New Yorker to visit in Staten Island? This would be like a Parisian, visiting Alsace-Lorraine, to visit.....a McDonalds.... je ne pense pas....

Oh I completely agree. It would nOt be something the locals would go in for.
You know how many NY'ers have never been to the Statue of Liberty?
I guess the hope is that it would be a draw for tourists,
who otherwise have no reason to leave manhattan.
I will have to read more about it. I only heard the press release and the tie-in to Vegas.

On the other hand, the Staten Island Ferry is immensely popular with tourists.
It is free. Heck, I have even made the crossing a few times just for the harbor breeze and the views.
I believe it is one of the top ten most visited activities in NYC. (will find a source later)
It has over 20 million riders a year, and they are not all residents of "Shaolin" (staten island)

Quote: Paigowdan

Staten Island is a surburban residence community that is less accessible than any other borough, and has less to offer in the arts, entertainment, and recreation than the rest of the city; functionally, Staten Island is an extention of New Jersey via the Goethals Bridge, - aside from the Ferry to the City. 99.9999% of the "cultural traffic" goes FROM Staten Island TO the City, not the other way around.

Staten Island 59 sq mi - Population 470,467
Hudson County 47 sq mi - Population 634,266

Hudson County NJ is larger, more densely populated, closer, and tied in better with mass transit with Manhattan than Staten Island.
It has always seemed stupid to me that Hudson county isn't part of New York, and Staten Island isn't part of NJ.

It strikes me as ridiculous that when Mayor Bloomberg suggested building an extension of the subway to Secaucus NJ (a hub for nearly every rail line in NJ) that the government of Staten Island suggested that a longer underwater tunnel to Staten Island to connect to the Staten Island Railroad was a higher priority.

Quote: WongBo

On the other hand, the Staten Island Ferry is immensely popular with tourists.
It is free. Heck, I have even made the crossing a few times just for the harbor breeze and the views.
I believe it is one of the top ten most visited activities in NYC. (will find a source later)
It has over 20 million riders a year, and they are not all residents of "Shaolin" (staten island)

I have to defend Staten Island also.....
As a place to live, the surburban/rural area that is nominally a Borough of New York City has some beautiful enclaves, with areas that are spiritually and culturally more aligned with "heartland America," so to speak, with deliberate disconnections from some of the haughtier aspects of cosmopolitan New York, and its cultural and political machinations, and with great access to the best of the Jersey Shore areas.
Geographically, Staten Island is a part of the New Jersey shore and old farmland county areas, and through some bizarre unfolding of political machinations, was attached as a county (Richmond) and a Borough (Staten Island) to New York City and State. So be it.
Commuting to New York City is viable for those Staten Island residents who work only in lower and midtown Manhattan, or those wealthy enough to own cars in NYC, with insurance, parking, tolls, and the like, as a comfort and convenience.

And the Ferry ride is a blast, a great way to start or end a New York work day (except in the Winter.)

Quote: Paigowdan

And the Ferry ride is a blast, a great way to start or end a New York work day (except in the Winter.)

This diagram is a 100 years old and show a proposed route to Brooklyn. They actually dug the tunnel for 150' (on the Brooklyn side) before abandoning the project.

As I understand it, Vegas is supposed to have two Ferris wheels, more visitors drunk enough to go for it on a whim, lots of visitors too young for the casinos and lots of pedestrians already streaming about in the immediate area, none of which will be in the mood to split hairs about just how high it is in New York.

You are correct, Flea.
There will be a smaller wheel, SkyVue, 500 ft (152m) at Mandalay Bay.
The "High Roller" at 550 ft. (167m) is planned as part of the LINQ.
Both to be completed before the end of 2013.

as with skyscrapers, there is a certain prestige in laying claim to the tallest.
But I think once you are 500 feet in the air, you are going to be pretty impressed, regardless.

Hey paco, thanks for that map. I was not aware of that project.
Of course the Verrazano-Narrows is an awesome span,
With really great views of the city, Brooklyn, and the harbor.
When it was built (1964) it surpassed the Golden Gate Bridge (1937) as
Worlds longest suspension bridge.
It is still in the top 10...ninth.
A lot nicer than taking a tunnel, but not cheap..$13 (cash rate).

Quote: WongBo

Hey paco, thanks for that map. I was not aware of that project. Of course the Verrazano-Narrows is an awesome span, With really great views of the city, Brooklyn, and the harbor.

I am amazed at the capacity of our ancestors to build these projects. The rail tunnels under the Hudson River were first planned only ten years after the death of Abraham Lincoln, although the first one didn't actually open until 1908. Look at the incredible bridges built where most of the calculations were done by slide rule.

With the incredible computing power of today, you would think we could build things cheaper. But all we can seem to be able to do is to cancel infrastructure projects.

Look at the Bayonne bridge (80 years old) connecting Staten Island with New Jersey. It cost $13 million to build, now it will cost $1 billion to raise the road using the same arch so that larger ships can pass underneath. Even allowing for 80 years of inflation that $13 million is adjusted to about $160 million. They collect over $50 million in tolls to cross the bridge today.

The PATH trains come within 2.5 miles of Newark Airport in NJ. And there are multiple railroad tracks on this route so you don't have to acquire a new right of way. After multiple decades they still can't find the funding to extend the PATH trains that extra 2.5 miles.

Quote: WongBo

But I think once you are 500 feet in the air, you are going to be pretty impressed, regardless.

Precisely. While a few might trek to NYC for some ultimate record, the money will be made in Vegas where the customers will readily take a break and spring a few bucks to take the brats on a trip, or get the teenagers out of their hair while they go hit the casino. Vegas is being reshaped largely by executives who really do think that haute cuisine is a Big Mac.

I have no doubt part of this is just municipall ego stroking on the part of mayor bloomberg.
New yorkers love bragging rights...

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