By Gina Martinez
Forest Park’s carousel is open for the season.
The venue officially came to life Saturday on a rare pleasant day for March. Parents and children enjoyed the park’s main attraction, the carousel, and the Woodhaven Express train ride.
Known as the crown jewel of Queens, the carousel was carved in 1903 by Daniel Carl Muller and has been an anchor of the park since 1973. The venue’s concession stand sold popcorn and soft drinks to eager kids, who played amusement games, including basketball shoot-out, Hi-Striker and ring toss. Each ride and game cost one ticket, which goes for $3.50, three tickets for $10 and 10 tickets for $30.
Daeshawn Grimes, operational manager of the carousel, said opening day was an exciting time for the team.
“It’s amazing, I’m excited.” he said. “I’m pretty sure a lot of people have cabin fever and they just want to get out and get away. We’ve been operating since 2012. It’s cool to see the kids come back. We opened our gates this morning and the kids were outside waiting to get in and it was just a beautiful feeling.”
Grimes said the team plans on improving the venue as the summer goes on.
“We’re going to rehab this thing a little more,” he said, “rearrange where things are and our games based on how this weekend went. Sometime soon we’re going to install another ride.”
Roberta Moreira and her husband accidentally stumbled upon the carousel and decided to bring their son.
“We live nearby and we were riding our bikes,” she said. “This is our first time at the park and we saw this and stopped by. I hope it’s open all summer long. We always heard about the carousel but now we’re finally here. It’s definitely nice, especially for the kids who need some fresh air sometimes.”
The venue is expected to be open seven days a week after Memorial Day.
Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmart
