Photo via Ralph Hockens' Flickr
A year after carousel operator New York One LLC abandoned the Queens Forest Park merry-go-round, claiming there wasn't enough foot traffic, the Parks Department has terminated their contract to run the famed Central Park Carousel. They told the NY Post the operator has failed to mainten and clean the ride up to their standards. The company will be out by Monday, and they may not have anyone else to run it for another month.
Some interesting tidbits from the article: the ride costs $2 and takes in just under $200K a year. There's a $7,500 concession fee the operator need to pay in order to run it. It's not running when the temperature falls under 32 degrees. And one man, Sal Napolitano, has worked in various positions at the ride for 39 years; he says that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis once asked if she needed to pay to watch her children go 'round.
