Coney Island History Project chief Charles Denson has created a film as an homage to the recently demolished Astrotower, which served as a spinning observation deck in its heyday. The defunct ride, built in 1964 as part of Astroland, was torn down on July 4 because officials thought its slight waving in the wind foretold a dangerous collapse. For residents, the faded pole and its vestigial deck were "much more than an amusement ride. It served as a symbol of hope. To those of us living in Coney Island in the early 1960s, the tower represented the future of Coney Island, a sign that the neighborhood would survive the city's urban renewal schemes," Denson writes. "The tower was never a thrill ride. It provided an overview, an aerial perspective on Coney Island... The Astrotower had idiosyncrasies: it liked to sing and dance, to sway in the wind as the cables hummed a mournful tune. This proved to be its undoing."
· Requiem for the Astrotower [Coney Island History Project]
· All Coney Island coverage [Curbed]
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