Balloon rides come to New York's Central Park

[July 25, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Want to look down on the rich and famous? Go eye to eagle-eye with a winged predator? See the sun rise over Queens? How better to do this than from a balloon 30 stories above Central Park?

The opportunity arises, so to speak, on Friday when a private company begins offering rides over the 843-acre park for $25 per adult and $17.50 for kids.

Other than the wicker basket accommodating a pilot and four passengers, there's not much to suggest the Jules Verne classic, "Around the World in 80 Days." No roaring flame providing hot air; instead the balloon is filled with helium, an inert, nonflammable gas. And no soaring for miles; the 45-foot-diameter envelope is tethered to the ground and raised and lowered by a winch for a 10-minute hover above the park.

"Get a spectacular daytime view of Central Park and bustling streets, or wait until sundown and float above dazzling city lights," says the AeroBalloon Web site. But it adds that the best time is early morning, "when the winds are most calm and the sunrise view is extraordinary."

The flight will also offer a panorama of posh hotels and luxury high-rise apartments that border the park, not to mention celebrities walking their dogs.

The purpose of the rides is to mark the 150th anniversary of Central Park, the nation's first major urban park, created by architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and opened to the public in 1858.

Their original 10 foot-by-5 foot "greensward plan," as it was called, is mounted on the wall of the headquarters of the Central Park Conservancy, which manages the park.

"This is a historic event -- it gives people a chance after 150 years to see the real greensward plan, not just the paper version," said Doug Blonsky, the conservancy's president. "We all get to experience the wonders of Central Park on the ground, and now from above."

AeroBalloon said its balloons have been "wowing crowds for years" at ballparks and other urban settings around the United States. While this is the company's first venture in Central Park, tethered balloons were a popular novelty in the park's early years, Blonsky said.

They now require a permit from the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA, responsible for air-traffic safety, permits balloons no higher than 500 feet. It did not return a call seeking comment.

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On the Net:

http://aeroballoon.com/

http://www.centralparknyc.org/

[Associated Press; By RICHARD PYLE]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.