Playland (New York)
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Playland (often called Rye Playland) is an amusement park located in Rye, New York. Run by Westchester County, it is the only government owned-and-operated amusement park in the United States.
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[edit] History
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the waterfront area of Westchester County, New York along the Long Island Sound was the site of a growing collection of recreational developments, including hotels, resorts, and "amusement areas." Local residents concerned about what a County report described as "unsavory crowds" induced the Westchester County Park Association to purchase two existing theme parks, Rye Beach and Paradise Park, and planned a local-government-sponsored amusement park in their stead.
Frank Darling, a veteran park manager with experience at Coney Island and the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, was hired to design and run the new park, called Playland. Construction commenced in September 1927 and was completed in six months. A design firm was commissioned to decorate the entire park in the Art Deco style.
The park began operation on May 26, 1928. The original design included a boardwalk, ice-skating rinks, a swimming pool, and two beaches, as well as amusement park rides, some of which are still in use.
Built in 1929, the Dragon Coaster serves as the park's mascot and appears in the Playland logo. The Dragon Coaster is one of roughly 100 wooden roller coasters still in operation in the United States.
[edit] Historic status and modern use
Playland was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. There is no charge for admission, but "fun cards" or wristbands must be purchased to go on rides. There is a seven dollar charge for cars in the parking lot. According to its website, "Playland also offers free entertainment and has a great beach, swimming pool, boardwalk and pier on scenic Long Island Sound, lake boating, picnic area, mini golf and indoor ice skating."
It is home to a "Grand Carousel". Playland is also home to one of only three "Derby Racers" still in existence. The Derby Racer is not a carousel for the faint of heart as it rotates at 25 miles per hour - three times the speed of a normal carousel. The horses move back and forth as well as up and down, simulating a true gallop as it races around the track. The other "Derby Racers" are located at Cedar Point[1], in Sandusky, Ohio; and Blackpool Pleasure Beach [2], in Blackpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
Until the beginning of the 2002-2003 NHL season, the New York Rangers hockey team practiced at the Playland ice-skating rink. Ever since the Rangers left, the hockey team from Manhattanville College, located in nearby Purchase, New York, plays its home games at Playland.
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[edit] Film appearances
The 1984 film The Muppets Take Manhattan features a scene filmed in Playland, although the scene is set in Michigan. Playland was the amusement park featured at the end of the 1988 film Big starring Tom Hanks. It also appears in a scene in the film Fatal Attraction with actress Glenn Close, and is featured in the Woody Allen film Sweet and Lowdown (1999) starring Sean Penn. In 1995, Rye Playland (and particularly the boardwalk, Dragon Coaster, and parking lot entrance) were featured in the Mariah Carey video for her song "Fantasy." Playland is a popular filming location for independent filmakers from SUNY Purchase and others in the tri-state area.
[edit] Infamous deaths
On July 4, 2006, Won Yong Kim, 43, from Queens, New York, drowned after wading into a man-made lake in Playland. He began struggling and was removed from the lake, which is off-limits to swimmers, and was pronounced dead about an hour later at a hospital. The lake was marked with "no swimming" signs, but officials said park visitors sometimes take them down. The lake, about 40 feet deep at its center, is used by paddle boaters and kayakers.
In May 2004, a seven-year old girl, Stephanie Dieudonné, of New Rochelle, New York, died on a ride called the Mind Scrambler when she wriggled out of a protective lap bar and knelt on the ride's seat to wave to a friend. Her parents are suing the park. Neither parent was at the park on that day.
On August 3, 2005, a seven-year old boy from Norwalk, Connecticut, died of blunt trauma to the head after he climbed out of a boat and got stuck in a conveyor belt on a water ride called Ye Old Mill (see Old Mill (ride).
The 2004 and 2005 accidents received a large amount of local press. Many have said this is due to the fact that Playland is county-owned, and thus the incidents were not "hushed up" as deaths may be when they occur at privately owned amusement parks such as Six Flags or Disneyworld, in order to avoid negative publicity. However in this case, due mainly to extensive media coverage, both deaths only further worsened revenue for the park, which had already been experiencing severe financial difficulties due to low attendance and lack of "thrilling" roller coasters that other amusement parks in the area such as Six Flags Great Adventure have. Playland has dealt with its enormous yearly deficit mainly by raising ticket prices for rides and requesting additional financial assistance from the Westchester County government; however, these measures have failed to be fruitful.
In addition to the three most recent deaths, two others have occurred at Playland. In 1988, an 8-year-old girl choked to death on a chewing gum while she was riding the Dragon Coaster[3]. In the 1920s, Albert Fischer, a nineteen-year old, was killed when being flung off of a ride called The Whip.
