Skyscraper Ruling Opens Door To Amusement Park Rides In Midtown

MIDTOWN, NY — "Billionaire's Row" developers want to bring Disneyland fun to Midtown by means of a massive skyscraper with a 260-foot-tall ride inside it, but challengers say they're living in a fantasy world.

Manhattan's Building department commissioner approved in March Extell's plans for a 51-story tower at 740 Eighth Ave. that includes a "drop ride," VIP observation deck, restaurant and hotel that would stand just 200 feet shorter than the Empire State Building, city records show.

But Extell — developers behind the enormous One57 and several ongoing developments — now face a formal challenge from zoning expert George Janes, who says the Buildings department's approval would turn midtown Manhattan into Las Vegas.

"That’s not a decision to be made by a Borough Commissioner at the Department of Buildings,” Janes said.

“It might be fine to turn Midtown into Disneyland, but I really, really would have liked to see City Council, City Planning, elected officials — like everyone weighed in on that."

Representatives who filed the proposal with the City on behalf of Extell did not respond to a request for comment.

An 'Acceptable Number'

Thrill seekers would board the ride on the 35th floor, according to drawings.

They would then strap in to one of the four spots on the three rides — one for each facade face — and get ready an 84-second ride, including a 260-foot indoor free-fall drop.

The proposal shares that the ride engineer, Liechtenstein-based Intamin, has been in operation for over 40 years.

Intamin has been in the news for a number of accidents over the years.

In 1999, a 12-year-old boy in San Francisco was killed after he flew out of a similar drop ride built by Intamin.

His body fell just feet from his waiting mother.

In 2004, after a 55-year-old man was killed riding an Intamin roller coaster at Six Flags New England, Intamin’s U.S. president at the time openly pondered what would be an “acceptable number” of accidents, according to the Boston Globe, a comment that shocked the survivors.

The most recent fatal Intamin accident appears to be in 2021 when an 11-year-old boy drowned in a water-based ride.

'The Department Made New Law'

At the crux of Manhattan Borough Commissioner Scott Pavan's approval is an interpretation of city zoning codes that would allow the amusement park ride as a feature of the hotel.

But Janes argues in his challenge — a May 26 filing that mandates a a city response — that the Buildings department doesn't have the right to make that distinction.

“The department made new law,” Janes wrote in his challenge, “law that it had no authority to make.”

Hotels are classified as Use Group 5, more commonly approved, while rides are typically regulated under the ultra-restrictive and rarely-approved Use Group 15.

The city also restricts where permanent amusement rides can be built without special zoning permission to C-7 districts, such as Coney Island, the only one currently in use.

But Pavan ruled the ride was an an acceptable “accessory entertainment” use — common as a restaurant, observation deck, theater or a parking lot — effectively paving the way for the 776,000-square-foot building.

A 2014 ruling by the Board of Standards and Appeals demonstrates the narrow interpretation of accessory use and, according to Janes, highlights the “absurdity” of the approval.

In the 2014 ruling, the board denied a medical office loading berth construction application because berths, the board said, were “incidental to, and not customarily found” at ambulatory diagnostic facilities.

Janes also warned allowing the Commissioner to approve the ride on these grounds could permanently change the landscape, not just in midtown, but across New York City.

"If Coney Island style rides are an accessory used to this hotel, then they’re an accessory used to all hotels," Janes said.

“That means every hotel can put a Coney Island style ride in — every one."

The Rides Are Already Here

But Buildings officials argue midtown is already a wild ride, and they have a point.

The neighborhood is already home to City Climb, a skyscraper-climbing venue in Hudson Yards, and The Summit, a fun zone-venue with an outdoor glass elevator at One Vanderbilt, noted spokesperson Andrew Rudansky.

“Amusement attractions already exist in other midtown high rise towers," Rudansky said.

And Extell's proposal doesn’t cite any examples of amusement rides in New York City hotels, but it does include a few local amusement rides, such as the small indoor ferris wheel at the former Toys ‘R’ Us and the ferris wheel recently installed at Times Square.

It also compares midtown to Las Vegas, Nashville and Macau, China, arguing Times Square and the Theater District “offers a comparable setting for such an establishment.”

“Indeed,” the proposal reads, “there could be no better location for a destination hotel.”

Is Las Vegas, Or Macau, The Future Of New York City?

With the arrival of proposals for casinos in midtown, some might argue the neighborhood has already taken a big step toward a Last Vegas-styled future.

Not Janes.

“It is absurd to even suggest land use decision-making in China has any applicability to land use decision-making in New York City," he wrote.

Janes also notes the ferris wheels included in Extell's proposal are temporary, and neither have anything to do with building a new hotel centered around a huge, mechanized ride.

“There is not a single hotel in New York City that includes a…Coney Island-style ride” reads his challenge.

When asked if the Buildings department was now explicitly allowing Coney Island-style amusement rides in hotels, Rudansky said that developers "are welcome to submit an application for our review.”

Correction: An editing error named One45 as an Extell project rather that One57. Additionally, it was clarified that the entire ride, not just the free-fall drop portion, has a total duration of 84 seconds.