Ground Soon To Be Broken For Giant Ferris Wheel On Staten Island
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Developers have begun gearing up to break ground on a giant Ferris wheel on Staten Island.
Work on the Ferris wheel is scheduled to begin next month, with a formal groundbreaking ceremony to follow March 10, the Staten Island Advance reported Friday.
Developer Rich Marin told the newspaper the ceremony will celebrate work on the 625-foot-tall wheel, an open-air designer outlet mall, and a hotel. Altogether, the project is valued at $500 million.
The New York City's Planning Commission and the City Council approved the plan in 2013 for the 625-foot Ferris wheel, which is expected to have views of the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor and the Manhattan skyline.
It was planned as the world's tallest, but developers in Dubai have subsequently broached plans to build a 689-foot wheel.
The "High Roller" in Las Vegas currently holds the title of the world's tallest. At 550 feet, it is 9 feet taller than its closest competitor, the Singapore Flyer, and 100 feet taller than the London Eye.
The original Ferris wheel, at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, was 264 feet tall. The iconic replica Ferris wheel at Chicago's Navy Pier is only 150 feet tall.
New York City officials have said the Staten Island wheel will create 2,000 jobs and draw millions of visitors each year.
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