In 1962 I rode the Coney Island Parachute Jump with my father when I was nine years old. It was an experience I will never forget. The ride closed in 1964 and my childhood dream was to once again see the view from the top. I first attempted to climb the Parachute Jump in 1973, when it was a rusting, abandoned ruin. It was too dangerous. In 2002 I finally realized my childhood dream and got to climb to the top of the tower. The Jump was a nature preserve. The motor room base was filled with pigeon nests and covered with muddy footprints of the raccoons who fed on the eggs. A raptor circled us at the top as we disturbed its perch, and the feet of the many small birds it had caught and devoured were spread out across the catwalks. I grew up a few blocks from the Jump and have documented it since it closed. When the city decided to dismantle and renovate the Jump ten years ago, my engineer friend Seth Kaufman had the only copy of the original plans. The city needed them so we made a deal: We got to climb it legally. Do NOT try this on your own. It is extremely dangerous and chances are that you will die. -- Charles Denson
16 янв 2012
