Posted on 07/06/2007 10:26:13 AM PDT by Coleus
On a tranquil Coney Island morning, fragrant with salt water and last night's cotton candy, the silence is interrupted by the rapid-fire bursts of twin hammers beating against steel track. Tucked 85 feet below, beneath the twists and turns of the Cyclone roller coaster, Gerry Menditto listens to the pounding with the intensity of a violin virtuoso tuning strings on a Stradivarius. "That hammer," he says evenly. "That will tell you what's happening."
As he has for 33 years, the white-haired Menditto is ensuring the venerable wood-and-steel coaster is running like a world-class sprinter before opening the attraction to hordes of screaming riders. On Tuesday, the legendary Cyclone — a paradise once nearly turned into a parking lot — celebrates its 80th birthday. Venditto, 64, celebrated its 50th, 60th and 75th birthdays, too. He has became responsible for maintaining the national landmark.
"He's like an orchestra conductor," says Carol Albert, whose family has run the Cyclone since 1975. "He has such a sense of feel for that machine and what it's doing." In the hours before the Cyclone rattles to life, Menditto and his staff give the red, white and blue coaster a complete once-over — from the wheels spinning beneath its vintage wooden cars to the tracks soaring above the Atlantic Ocean.
It's a routine going back generations, passed down among the coaster's blue-collar cognoscenti. Menditto and his half-dozen workers arrive around 7 a.m. for their daily rounds, moving briskly before the beach and the boardwalk come to life. Broken bolts are removed and replaced, cracked wood quickly supplanted, fresh coats of paint smoothly applied. But the work begins with the echoing hammers, wielded by two workers moving to the peculiar rhythms of their tools — step, swing, thwack!
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Hello, my Coney Island baby!
(Naked) man: I haven’t had a hotdog at Nathan’s for 20 years.
Jerry: First we ride the cyclone.
(Naked) man: Chilly out.
*Jerry takes a deep breath*
Jerry: Aah, French fries.
Last time I rode was in 1970 or so. I was there in 1976 for the bicentennial but I think the ride may have been closed.
. . . where are the rides of yesteryear?
“Steeplechase” was one of the best!
And Reginald Marsh was one of the best, too! He “got” New York in the 20s, perfect pitch.
I have fond memories of The Cyclone, and how the pretty young girlfriends would cling to me as we went up that highest hill.
Funny, though I was only born in the 40’s, his pictures are how I ‘remember’ my old home town....or maybe I just watched too many old movies.
Wondering when Bloomie will shut it down. That roller coaster makes illegal noise.
I like ‘Gold Rusher’ I think, at Magic Mountain. MM is a SoCal theme park pretty much built around a few large roller coasters. GREAT!
My wife & I rode the Cyclone in 2000, it was pretty fun! Those old wooden coasters scare me a lot more than the modern rail loopty loop ones.
The Cyclone is all that will be left after the last season at Coney Island.That’s progress I suppose.
One of the things I LOVE about Coney Island is the fact that it remains the LAST ungentrified or destroyed enclave of old Brooklyn. Once the condos come in, expect Ruby's Bar to close and the fishing pier to become part of a bike trail/outdoor cafe.
I say, if they want to gentrify the shoreline, they should go farther east to the Rockaways. WTF did Lindsay dump welfare dependents on what is BEAUTIFUL beachfront property in Far Rockaway/Arverne?
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