A plan to build the Western Hemisphere’s largest Ferris Wheel in Staten Island is now officially dead.
After much back and forth on funding, it was announced on Tuesday by project developers that plans for The New York Wheel will not move forward. The ferris wheel has already been in the process of development for nearly six years, and $450 million has already been invested in it.
However, the city denied project investors the $380 million that would be needed to finish the 630-foot-high wheel. The spokesperson for The New York Wheel project, Cristyne Nicholas, said: “After years of planning, the developers of The New York Wheel announce, with great disappointment, that the dream of building a world-class attraction in Staten Island will unfortunately not come to fruition.”
Originally, the project was only supposed to cost $450 million and had private investors backing it; but when lawsuits between the former contractor (Mammoet-Starneth) and the developer arose, and project delays grew, the price to complete the attraction skyrocketed to a whopping $900 million. In her statement, Nicholas added that even though the ferris wheel itself will never become a reality for New Yorkers:
“The developers of The New York Wheel are proud to have delivered a state-of-the art, modern 325,000 square-foot garage structure, providing up to 950 deeply discounted commuter parking spaces, a turnaround area for 12 motor coach buses, and the MTA Railroad Right of Way decking to connect the site to Richmond Terrace, allowing pedestrian access to the waterfront along Bank Street that was previously shut off to the public.”
featured image source: S9 Architecture / Perkins Eastman