[NYguy]

Originally Posted by CCs77

I am just posting it, not that I agree with it. I think that Staten Island is a better place for it.

I read an article on that in the Brooklyn Paper, where it was correctly pointed out that those are two different worlds. Having a Wonder Wheel in Coney Island is something completely different from this observation wheel, two different audiences. Amusement park crowds want a quick thrill. This will not be that.



http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf...ten_islan.html

Transformation of Staten Island waterfront could be coming soon



August 24, 2012
By Deborah Young

The plan for what would be New York City's first outlet mall is one of three visions submitted by different developers to the city, outlining how they would transform the 6.7-acre swath of land into bustling commercial centers, according to the borough president. The site, like the parcel of land where the proposed wheel would be constructed, is emblematic of the area's untapped potential -- with jaw-dropping views and an estimated 2 million visitors every year, who these days just graze by after hopping off the ferry, before simply turning around and hopping back on.

"There are serious, serious negotiations going on as we speak," said Borough President James P. Molinaro. Although a report in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal focused exclusively on the outlet mall, he said two other proposals for more traditional shopping and business complexes are also on the table. "I know some of the details and the stumbling blocks. Whatever is going to happen is going to have to happen soon."

And as for the chances of actually seeing a 600-plus-foot-high observation wheel, outfitted with plush, temperature-controlled passenger capsules, where people can slowly take a spin and soak in the stunning skyline: It is no longer pie in the sky. "They are a lot closer than they were a month ago," said Molinaro of the negotiations between the city Economic Development Corporation and Plaza Capital Management, LLC and other investors to build the wheel.

"An announcement" could be made by early fall, the borough president said: "The clock is running. You can put money in the bank that those two sites are going to be developed and before 2014; they'll have everything ready to go."

http://www.silive.com/northshore/ind...uhgedabou.html

Surrender The Wheel? Fuhgedaboudit, says Staten Island's beep



September 04, 2012
By Judy L. Randall

Hey, Brooklyn: Hands off The Wheel!

So said Borough President James Molinaro last week, amid remarks by his Brooklyn counterpart and grousing by the founder of Coney Island USA, who believe the proposed London Eye-style observation wheel Molinaro wants on Staten Island’s North Shore waterfront should be built in Brooklyn instead.

“It’s going to happen here, no place else,” Molinaro told the Advance. “It’s going to go here, right here. And it’s going to be a game-changer for Staten Island. We will be the island of whatever they will call the gadget — the Island of the Wheel, the Island of the Circle.”

He also lambasted critics for reducing the 600-foot-high observation wheel to a mere boardwalk amusement. “This is no Ferris wheel,” said Molinaro. “There are 45,000 Ferris wheels in the world. This is not one.”