For decades, the ride was just as popular as its still-standing rival, the Cyclone, which is two years younger, and the close-knit clan adapted to the mayhem. And there we were, sitting having cake, having coffee. Inside, the house looked like any other big ethnic abode of the time, except that the decorative china plates and a floor-to-ceiling mirror had to be bolted to the wall.
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A baby grand piano occupied one room; a chandelier swayed but never broke. You could tell a Moran kid because they were the ones walking under the ride with their heads down, looking for things passengers had dropped.
They found wigs, dentures, jewelry, purses, luggage and, once, a wedding dress. George Moran died in and Molly followed in , leaving their son Fred to run the ride and live in the home with his longtime girlfriend, Mae Timpano. With dreams of redeveloping the site into a new theme park, Bullard shut down the Thunderbolt but allowed Timpano to continue living in the house. While Bullard negotiated with the city and bankers, the ride fell into disrepair, vines overtaking the wooden planks and foliage obscuring the entrance.
In November , with MCU Park under construction, Mayor Rudy Giuliani sent bulldozers in before dawn to tear the Thunderbolt down, a move a court later declared illegal. Timpano sat in a car and cried as she watched workers hack at her former home. She admired the stubbornness of the ride, which seemed to be putting up a fight. Paying tribute to the original ride was a no-brainer for the company that copied the name and design of Luna Park for the revived version that opened in , says Central Amusement International President Valerio Ferrari.
For the Moran family, the news was like walking back into a childhood playroom after all these years. Kramer, 55, has become the keeper of the Thunderbolt flame. His Boulevard Tavern in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is a shrine to the coaster.
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The walls are lined with photos of the ride, including one with Blondie singer Debbie Harry posing out front in Years ago he tried to buy one of the old Thunderbolt cars for bar seating, but it proved too expensive. I went out with him a few times.
So we went over to the house. And we were sipping that, listening to records. And then for forty years, we had a lot of fun together. The Cyclone has a bigger dip, a bigger fall.
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The Thunderbolt was rougher in the turns. You know when you went down you bounced out of the car almost. The car would be practically sideways.
A few things, you know, broke. My perfume tray fell off one time.
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Pictures would be a little slanty, but not much. I had wall-to-wall mirrors, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large living room, dining room, kitchen. But it was like living in the country. I was in the country in the middle of the city. I got a call from California. A man out in California called me. I got dressed, I went down, and sure enough they were tearing my house down. It was sad standing there looking at it.
Living beneath the roller coaster - a Coney Island idyll
Seemed like every — all my memories just wiped out. And I figure, no, I want to get away from that, you know. Meet an out-of-the-ordinary Santa: Fifty years after arriving in the United States from Honduras, Roy Daley sat down with his daughter, Lucy, and wife, Ana, to reminisce about his first Thanksgiving dinner. Do you value stories that give us hope? Honor the legacy of our veterans.