EAST FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — An old family favorite on Long Island is getting a new multi-million dollar redevelopment.
Days before it reopens for the season, Adventureland unveiled its plans Tuesday for new attractions.
It’s quite a turnaround for a venue that was shuttered for more than a year during the pandemic.
Long Island’s happy place has bounced back. Four years after the pandemic fight of its life, Adventureland is expanding its offerings.
FLASHBACK: Long Islanders bid farewell to Hurricane roller coaster at Adventureland
It was a crazy ride back in 2020. The amusement park was closed for 14 months. As New York phased in openings, amusement owners waited slowly and painfully. There was concern the family business, which open since 1962, wouldn’t make it.
“You just kept those feelings to yourself and said we are going to get through it, save for a rainy day. It was a rainy day. It was a rainy year,” co-owner Paul Gentile said.
Adventureland pivoted to pay some of its 650 workers, with drive-in concerts, movies and fitness classes.
“It’s like you have your hand out from a 6-foot hole and Long Islanders were pulling us out of the hole and we were helping them by pulling them as well,” Gentile said. “We all helped each other out. It was like mental therapy and who ever thought we would be here today?”
On Tuesday, a $10 million to $15 million redevelopment over five years was announced that will update 10% of the property. New rides will replace some aging ones. Officials said the plan will create 50-70 new jobs.
Coming next year will be a family ride that simulates ocean waves. It is said to be the first of its kind in the country.
“We are trying to bring innovation. There are a lot of rides you can buy out in the market, but they look the same, behave the same, so we are trying to come up with new movements, new combination of movements,” said Roman Rothe, owner of R.E.S. Rides.
Some of this made was possible due to $500,000 in Suffolk County and Empire State Development grants, plus and a new sponsorship by Catholic Health.
Lawmakers say it’s all an investment in Long Island.
“It’s an investment in the community and this is something that has been a staple of Long Island for so many years,” Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer said.
“You’re seeing familiar faces. You’re seeing them coming with their kids, maybe sometime with their grandkids. It’s an institution,” Adventureland co-owner Steve Gentile added.
Adventureland’s motto is “The memories you create with our children will be your greatest legacy.” Well, more memories are in the making starting this weekend with the season opening.
An undercover investigation by Newsday into housing discrimination on Long Island has resulted in penalties for some brokers ensnared in the probe.
The New York Department of State revoked licenses from three agents, suspended the licenses of seven and fined five between $500 and the maximum allowed of $2,000.
There were a total of 36 agents named in Newsday’s Long Island Divided series, the outlet reported. Decisions are pending against five of them, while cases were dismissed against four. In two instances, the state dropped their cases, while the state didn’t pursue discipline for 10 of them.
Himanshoo Sanghvi (who worked for Century 21 American Homes at the time of Newsday’s series), was among the agents who lost their licenses. He offered opinions on a local school district and referred to a neighborhood as a “mini United Nations.” He was initially suspended six months before an appeal led to the revocation of his license.
The other agents to have their licenses revoked by the state were Aminta Abarca of Keller Williams Realty of Greater Nassau and Anne Marie Queally Bechand of Signature Premier Properties in Cold Spring Harbor.
Not every case resulted in discipline. Ana Pizaro, who worked at Signature Premier Properties, allegedly gave a white tester 18 listings in Plainview and Syosset and none in Huntington, but gave a Hispanic tester more than 60 listings in Huntington — a predominantly Hispanic area — and few in Plainview and Syosset. Her case was dismissed because investigators didn’t provide evidence establishing the race of the testers and couldn’t prove “discriminatory intent.”
RE/MAX Beyond associate broker Joy Tuxson told a white tester that Wyandanch — a hamlet with a predominantly Black and Hispanic population — the area was a good place to “buy your crack.” Her license was ultimately suspended until the completion of a fair housing course, but that discipline was connected to separate comments she made about schools.
She took a three-hour course the day she learned of the suspension and had her license restored the very next day. Her license status lists her as an associate broker with RE/MAX Integrity Leaders.
Newsday’s three-year probe involved sending undercover testers to meet with agents and secretly videotaping allegedly discriminatory action.
State and local authorities have followed up the investigation with increased efforts to tackle discrimination and comply with fair housing laws. Long Island Realtors unveiled a fair housing campaign a couple of years ago. In November, New York Attorney General Letitia James launched a program to fund fair housing testers across the state.
— Holden Walter-Warner