PARACHUTE JUMP - STEEPLECHASE PLAZA
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76 m high metal tower in Brooklyn, declared a historic monument, offering a thrill ride
This 76-metre-high metal silhouette soaring above the boardwalk is one of the symbols of Coney Island, and indeed of the borough as a whole, so much so that it's sometimes referred to as the "Eiffel Tower of Brooklyn". If you're tempted by the sight of it to take a ride on a thrill ride, be warned that Parachute Jump hasn't been in operation since the 1960s! It's actually the skeleton of an old building from the 1939 New York World's Fair, which took place in Queens. It was moved in 1941 and installed in one of Coney Island's three historic amusement parks, Steeplechase Park. As its name suggests, the attraction simulated a parachute descent along cables. This is the last vestige of the park, which closed in 1964 and was sold to Fred Trump (Donald's father) in 1965, who destroyed it before it was listed, with the aim of building a tower (which never happened). The tower was declared a historic monument in 1980 and a New York City Landmark nine years later, before being restored in the 2010s and adorned with thousands of LED lights. At the foot of the tower, on the pedestrian Steeplechase Plaza, turn the 50 wooden horses of the B&B Carousel, a historic Coney Island carousel dating back to 1919, restored and installed here in 2013 and managed by Luna park. Directly opposite, the Pat Auletta Steeplechase Pier, a jetty that juts out into the sea, offers a lovely view of Coney Island.
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