Coney Island has a new steel scream machine.
I was among the first thrill-seekers to take a ride on the Thunderbolt roller coaster, which zips along 2,233 feet of track at speeds as high as 55 mph.
The new attraction, which sits on the same lot by the Boardwalk as the original Thunderbolt, starts with a terrifying 90-degree drop from 115 feet.
As the nine-seat car crested over the top of the track, the Coney Island sky was all I could see. Next thing I knew, I was plummeting to Earth, blasted into a loop followed by three corkscrews, letting out a banshee wail the whole time.
A shoulder harness and lap bar kept me locked in place while my feet dangled during the two-minute ride.
The shiny Thunderbolt is speedy and smooth compared to the classic 87-year-old Cyclone just three blocks away.
“I was so scared,” said Avalon Rampsersant, 15, who was among the lucky teenagers who took the first official ride after Luna Park’s CEO Valerio Ferrari and elected officials cut the ribbon on the $9 million coaster.
“My heart was beating so fast,” he said. “I felt like I was going to fall out — my stomach was flying up into my throat.”
Erik Knapp — known around the Boardwalk as Mr. Cyclone — showed off a Thunderbolt tattoo he’d already had inked on his left arm — matching his tattoo of the rickety wooden coaster on the other arm.
“It doesn’t look like you’re going fast, but you’re booking, man!” said Knapp, 48, who loved the ride, but wasn’t ready to change his name to Mr. Thunderbolt.
The Thunderbolt’s wooden predecessor opened in 1925 and stopped operating in 1982. It was known for roughing riders up a bit and creating a sense of unease among riders, just like the Cyclone. There was also a house right under the tracks that once belonged to Molly and George Moran, who built the thrill ride. Their noisy abode was featured in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall.”
“They would have loved this,” said the Morans’ grandnephew, Harold Kramer, 56. “The legend continues into a new century!”
