New York Ferris Wheel To Be Tallest In The World

New York is going after more tourist business in a big way, building the world’s tallest Ferris wheel along the waterfront in Staten Island. To be called the New York Wheel, at 625 feet it will be 5 feet taller than the planned High Roller wheel for the Las Vegas Strip, 84 feet taller than the Singapore Flyer and carry over 1400 passengers at a time.

“The New York Wheel and the retail outlet mall will attract millions of visitors from around the five boroughs and around the world, bringing jobs and private investment to Staten Island,” Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel said in a statement. “The New York Wheel will be the newest member of New York’s global tourist attractions.”

The New York Wheel will have 36 capsules, each able to carry up to 40 passengers. Expected to draw 30,000 riders a day during peak season, adding up to 4.5 million visitors per year. At the wheel’s base will be a 100,000-square-foot terminal building, which will house retail, restaurant and theater space, along with exhibitions about New York City history, alternative energy and environmental sustainability.Not far will be Harbor Commons, a 350,000-square-foot retail complex with outlet stores, restaurants and a 200-room hotel with views of the Manhattan skyline.

To be designed by some of the same people that worked on the London Eye, construction is expected to begin in early 2014, with the goal of opening by the end of 2015.

The New York Wheel may not be the tallest wheel in the world; the Singapore Flyer can whisk 1,260 passengers around hourly to see a panorama of three different countries below as we see in this video:




Flickr photo by pchgorman