© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Water park proposed at historic NY amusement park

A small water park would be added to a landmarked amusement park north of New York City under a newly announced proposal. WAMC’s Dave Lucas reports.

Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino said Thursday he has chosen a new operator for county-owned Playland.  He says the operator, Sustainable Playland Inc., would also add ball fields, a field house and a "Great Lawn" for concerts and graduations. Astorino says the operator would also invest $34 million in capital improvements to the existing park in Rye. County spokesman Ned McCormack says the park's historic rides would remain, including the wooden "Dragon" roller coaster, a carousel and Kiddyland rides. Astorino has complained that Playland is losing millions of dollars.

Playland opened in 1928 and was featured in the 1988 Tom Hanks film "Big."

© 2012 Associated Press

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.