Coney Island landmark opens for the season on Marchc 28 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
834 Surf Ave. at West Tenth St.
Opens Sunday, March 28, 12 noon, then weekends through May 13 and daily through September
Admission: $8, ride again $5
718-265-2100
www.coneyislandcyclone.com
We make sure to hit the Cyclone, an official national historic landmark, at least once every summer, and it has never let us down. We know every curve, bump, and drop like the back of our hand, but the rickety old joy still surprises us every time we take it for a spin. We like to start in the last car, where you get thrown around like a rag doll, then move up to the first car, which is as awesome as you would imagine. A handful of years ago Walter Williams, the man who had inspected every nail of this grand coaster every morning for decades, retired, but we’re happy to report that Michael is now keeping it all up to speed. Since 1927, the three thousand feet of track that make up the Cyclone have held no hidden tricks from the very start of the ride; it takes you straight up, offering a fabulous view of Coney Island, but don’t get too lost in the picturesque scenery, because you’re about to go on a killer eighty-five-foot drop. Riding the Cyclone is our favorite 110 seconds in the world; it even impressed Charles Lindbergh, who piloted the Cyclone in 1927 and said it was more thrilling than flying across the Atlantic. Coney Island is undergoing a lot of change right now, for better and for worse, but the Cyclone keeps rolling along, as dependable as ever, even if the price has gone up to $13 for back-to-back rides.