Astroland has been taken over by the new Luna Park.

The 2008 summer season was Astroland's last as we know it, although the historic landmark Cyclone roller coaster will remain open in 2009. Astroland owner Carol Hill Albert sold the site to developer Joseph Sitt's Thor Equities, and a complete overhaul is in the works. Demolition began in earnest in Winter 2008. Below is our original review:

Astroland's is New York City's largest amusement park and home to the Cyclone - the outdoor amusement industry's most famous, most influential, and most copied individual ride. While Astroland's fortunes are heading back up from a historic low of the 1970s and 1980s, the beautiful new subway station serving Coney Island will contribute to Astroland's ongoing Renaissance.

In 2006 the Parachute Jump returned, a 250-foot attraction that spent four decades rusting in the salty air. The ride has been totally overhauled and painted its original colors. Brooklyn's proud borough president Marty Markowitz calls it "Brooklyn's Eiffel Tower."

While Astroland features many rides and typical carnies--barkers, skeeball-type games, and so on, it's really all about the historic roller coaster. The Cyclone has consistently ranked at or near the top of every roller coaster top ten list published. An official New York City Landmark since July 12, 1988, Cyclone was listed in the New York State Register of Historic Places on June 31, 1991. National Historic Landmark status followed, on June 26, 1991.

Type of Ride: Compact wood twister

GROUND DIMENSIONS: 75 feet by 500 feet HEIGHT: 85 feet LENGTH OF FIRST DROP: 85 feet at a 60 degree angle TRACK LENGTH: 2,640 feet

NUMBER OF 180 DEGREE TURNS: 6 NUMBER OF DROPS: 12 CHANGES OF DIRECTION: 16 NUMBER OF TRACK CROSSOVERS: 18 NUMBER OF ELEVATION CHANGES: 27

SPEED: 60 Miles Per Hour

RIDE TIME: One Minute, Fifty Seconds

TRAINS: 3 Trains, 3 Cars per train

CAPACITY: 24 Passengers per Cycle

UNUSUAL FEATURES: Steel track on almost entirely wood structure; Classic Trains, station, and operational procedures; distinction of being the most copied roller coaster ever built -- 7 "clones" currently operating throughout the United States, Europe and Japan.