[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn]
Astroland died late last night, with an odd scene that lacked any remarks or final statements, but that included weirdness, shouts of “Get back from the gate” and some unexplained police activity. Brit in Brooklyn blogger and superb GL Contributor Adrian Kinloch stayed until the bitter end and was on hand to photograph and relate the final moments of the amusement park as the gates were pulled shut for what may have been the very last time. He writes:
As the rides shut down one by one, going dark, a group of ride operators occupied (good naturedly) the top spin ride and chanted one more year, then eventually got down to join the group of assembled park visitors, vips and workers.
Suddenly there was a lot of shouting and angry faces and some of the operators stormed off into the park…Then a group of NPYD wearing blue rubber gloves ran off into the same direction. I tried to follow but Carol Albert pushed me back shouting “No Press.” All in all the gate closing was pretty sad, no last words from Carol or anyone, just lots of shouting get back from the gate. The small crowd outside the gate looked a bit lost.
The time stamps on Mr. Kinloch’s photos indicates that Astroland’s official time of death was 11:29 PM, September 7, 2008, which is when the final gate was pulled down. A sad (and, to us, a needlessly premature) end to a place beloved by many people.
[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn]
3 responses so far ↓
1 BIB // Sep 8, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I should also add, the highlight of the last hours was when the ride operators got a spontaneous round of applause from remaining visitors.
2 Seeking: Amusement park fanatic with lots of cash « And so it goes…and goes… // Sep 8, 2008 at 5:25 pm
[…] they may have slammed the gates (watch your toes!), but guess what? Now you can OWN a little piece of Astroland as many of the […]
3 spnder // Sep 8, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Sad day, but you couldn’t ask for a better one. Gorgeous weather, lots of crowds (longest lines I’ve seen at Nathan’s I think). As the sun set, literally, over Astroland I decided it was a fitting time to leave. Glad I didn’t wait it out until 11:30… I probably would have cried anyhow.