View source for Thunderbolt (1925 roller coaster)

{{Short description|Former roller coaster at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{About|the defunct wooden roller coaster|the current steel roller coaster|Thunderbolt (2014 roller coaster)}}
{{Infobox roller coaster
| name = Thunderbolt
| image = Coney Island Thunderbolt in 1986 (1).jpg
| caption = The inactive Thunderbolt in 1986
| location = Coney Island
| coordinates = {{Coord|40|34|26|N|73|58|57|W|region:US-NY|display=it}}
| type = Wood
| manufacturer = 
| designer = [[John Miller (entrepreneur)|John A. Miller]]
| status = Removed
| opened = {{Start date|1925}}
| closed = {{End date|1982}}
| height_ft = 86
| duration = 1:17
| rcdb_number=423
}}

The '''Thunderbolt''' was a [[wooden roller coaster]] located at [[Coney Island]] in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]].  Designed by [[John Miller (entrepreneur)|John Miller]],<ref name="Rutherford">Rutherford, Scott (2000) ''The American Roller Coaster'', MBI Publishing Company, Wisconsin. {{ISBN|0760306893}}.</ref> it operated from 1925 until 1982 and remained standing until it was demolished in&nbsp;2000.<ref name="RCDB">{{cite RCDB|coaster_name=Thunderbolt|location=Coney Island - George Moran|rcdb_number=423|accessdate=November 16, 2013}}</ref><ref name=endofln>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iopOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vR4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5735%2C906219 |work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal |location=South Carolina |agency=Associated Press |title=End of the line |date=November 19, 2000 |page=10A}}</ref> The demolition was controversial, as the property owner [[Horace Bullard]] was not notified, nor had any formal inspection been done on the structure.<ref name=times>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/04/nyregion/about-new-york-giuliani-razed-roller-coaster-and-the-law.html|title=About New York; Giuliani Razed Roller Coaster, And the Law|work=The New York Times|author=Dan Barry|date=October 4, 2003|page=B1|accessdate=December 2, 2020}}</ref>

In June 2013, it was announced that a new [[steel roller coaster]] would be constructed on Coney Island named the [[Thunderbolt (2014 roller coaster)|Thunderbolt]].<ref>{{cite RCDB|coaster_name=Thunderbolt|location=Luna Park|rcdb_number=8788|accessdate=November 16, 2013}}</ref> The steel coaster opened in 2014 and uses a completely different design.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/coney-island-new-thunderbolt-roller-coaster-officially-opens-article-1.1830380|title=Coney Island's new Thunderbolt roller coaster officially opens|date=June 14, 2014|work=NY Daily News|accessdate=June 29, 2014|last=Brown|first=Stephen R.}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
It was featured briefly in [[Woody Allen]]'s 1977 film ''[[Annie Hall]]'' as the boyhood home of [[Alvy Singer]] (Allen's character).<ref name="RCDB"/>  The house was a real residence, built in&nbsp;1895 as the Kensington Hotel. The roller coaster was constructed with part of its track scaling the top of the building.<ref>{{cite web|title=The House under the Roller Coaster by Steve Zeitlin|url=http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/voicjl27/dnstate.html|website=www.nyfolklore.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020426073548/http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/voicjl27/dnstate.html|archivedate=April 26, 2002|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Life-Under-the-Thunderbolt">{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2013/07/28/life-under-the-thunderbolt/|title=Life Under the Thunderbolt|publisher=New York Post|first=Tim|last=Donnelly|date=July 28, 2013 |accessdate=October 15, 2013}}</ref>

The [[indie rock]]/[[slowcore]] band [[Red House Painters]] 1993 album, ''[[Red House Painters (Rollercoaster)]]'' features a sepia toned photograph of the Thunderbolt as its cover art. The last film to photograph the Thunderbolt was ''[[Requiem for a Dream]]''. 

In the 1995 IMAX film ''[[Across the Sea of Time]]'', the coaster is featured in abandoned condition.

In the 1998 movie ''[[He Got Game]]'', [[Spike Lee]] features the coaster in its dilapidated state.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{CI Coasters}}

[[Category:Coney Island]]
[[Category:Former roller coasters in New York (state)]]
[[Category:1925 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:1982 disestablishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Brooklyn]]


{{amusement-ride-stub}}
{{Brooklyn-struct-stub}}