The official groundbreaking for the New York Wheel on Staten Island's north shore won't happen until the fall, but construction is forging ahead on the observation wheel, slated to open in 2017. According to the Staten Island Advance, which visited the site last week, a fence has gone up around the St. George site where the wheel is being erected, and giant cranes have been put into place.
The best views of the construction can apparently be found along Bank Street, but some residents aren't pleased with the positioning of the windows along the fencing surrounding the site. Taller folks can see through the windows, which have a view of the construction site and New York Harbor beyond it; but for more vertically challenged residents, that's not a possibility.
One SI Advance reader apparently complained to the paper, "Petite people like myself hardly reach the window with the top of the head, and my eyes are lower than the top of my head.…The only alternative is to carry a stool with me, and that is not very practical."
Of course, good vantage points won't be a problem once the New York Wheel opens: At 630 feet tall, the attraction is expected to be one of the tallest observation wheels in the world, with stunning views of Manhattan, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and beyond.
· Huge cranes rise as groundwork begins for the Wheel [SI Advance]
· New York Wheel coverage [Curbed]
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