Parachute Jump

This article is about the amusement park ride. For jumping with a parachute, see Parachuting.

Parachute Jump
The Parachute Jump, a tall red truss structure, and its pavilion, a red, yellow, and blue building near ground level. A wooden boardwalk can be seen in the foreground.
Seen from the Riegelmann Boardwalk
Map
LocationConey Island, Brooklyn, New York City
Coordinates40°34′23″N 73°59′04″W / 40.57301°N 73.98441°W / 40.57301; -73.98441
Built1939[2]
ArchitectMichael Marlo; Edwin W. Kleinert
NRHP reference No.80002645[1]
NYCL No.1638
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 2, 1980[1]
Designated NYCLMay 23, 1989[3]

The Parachute Jump is a defunct amusement ride and a landmark in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, along the Riegelmann Boardwalk at Coney Island. Situated in Steeplechase Plaza near the B&B Carousell, the structure consists of a 250-foot-tall (76 m), 170-short-ton (150 t) open-frame, steel parachute tower. Twelve cantilever steel arms radiate from the top of the tower; when the ride was in operation, each arm supported a parachute attached to a lift rope and a set of guide cables. Riders were belted into a two-person canvas seat, lifted to the top, and dropped. The parachute and shock absorbers at the bottom would slow their descent.

International Parachuting Inc. was selected in May 1938 to operate the Parachute Jump at the 1939 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City. Capped by a 12-foot (3.7 m) flagpole, it was the second-tallest structure at the fair. The ride was sponsored by Life Savers during the fair's first season, and it was relocated during the fair's second season to attract more visitors. In 1941, after the World's Fair, it was moved again to the Steeplechase amusement park on Coney Island. It ceased operations in the 1960s following the park's closure, and the frame fell into disrepair.

Despite proposals to either demolish or restore the ride, disputes over its use caused it to remain unused through the 1980s. The Parachute Jump has been renovated several times since the 1990s, both for stability and for aesthetic reasons. In the 2000s, it was restored and fitted with a lighting system. The lights were activated in 2006 and replaced in a subsequent project in 2013. It has been lit up in commemoration of events such as the death of Kobe Bryant. The ride, the only remaining portion of Steeplechase Park, is a New York City designated landmark and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

  1. ^ a b National Park Service 1980, p. 1.
  2. ^ Denson, Charles (2002). Coney Island: Lost and Found. Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 9781580084550.
  3. ^ Breiner 1989, p. 1; New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Dolkart & Postal 2009, p. 151.