Coney Island, which lost its beloved Astroland amusement park last summer after 46 glorious years, is set to be home to the rebirth of one of the area's original landmarks, Dreamland.
Constructed in 1904, Dreamland Park was one of the first entertainments built on Coney Island. It burned to the ground in 1911, following a fire that started appropriately enough at the "Hell Gate" attraction.
Now, nearly a century later, Thor Equities, the polarizing real estate developer who bought the site in 2006 for $30 million, is set to bring Dreamland back.
Anthony Raffaele, ride operator for Thor is beyond excited.
"Basically, it's pretty spectacular," Raffaele told The New York Daily News.
Not surprisingly, people are coming down on both sides of the news.
"To throw some carnival rides in and call it Dreamland seems kind of a shame," said Charles Denson, a Coney Island historian.
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Dick Zigun, however, founder of Coney Island USA and frequent Thor critic, doesn’t think it's so bad.
