Who doesn’t want a giant ferris wheel in the middle of Staten Island?
We’re assuming this is the exact inquiry Mayor Michael Bloomberg demanded of his administration after talking with an investment group interested in erecting this enormous asset.
Apparently, the giant ferris wheel, if approved, would stand 600-feet-tall, making it the tallest “observation wheel” in the world, The Journal reports.
We’re going to take a stab in the dark and say it’s probably no coincidence that it will be just large enough to mitigate London’s own revolving claim-to-fame, the London Eye–which stands 443-feet-tall.
Bravo, Mayor Bloomberg.
This move solidifies any suspicion of his slight fixation with London. After all, we’ve already attempted congestion pricing and bike sharing.
Now we’re waiting for the integration of a Big Ben-esque clock tower in the New York skyline, but with a bell toll loud enough to trump the city’s own noisy soundboard.
All jokes aside, the current investment group–Plaza Capital Group Management–isn’t the first to bring this idea to New York. An unsuccessful attempt to implant a large wheel on Governors Island was proposed more than two years ago, The Journal reminds us in a follow-up post.
The proposed investment was around $100 million.
This idea seems to be a mainstay in the minds of investment groups with the end goal being to provide tourists, who ride the ferry from Lower Manhattan to Staten Island, with a reason to stay on the island. No more cheap booze cruises, in other words.
