New York Approves World's Tallest Ferris Wheel

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New York officially entered the growing competition to build the world's tallest Ferris Wheel this week, when the City Council approved plans for a 625-foot wheel on Staten Island.

The New York wheel will easily surpass the current world's tallest, the 541-foot Singapore Flyer, and the 550-foot High Roller in development in Las Vegas. The London Eye is a relatively dinky 442 feet.

But Dubai is focused on the Ferris Wheel record, which changes the game. The proposed Dubai Eye, part of the proposed $1.5 Bluewaters Island project, would be a world-beating 690-feet, if it is ever built.

The New York wheel will include 36 capsules which will carry 40 people, who will be offered views of the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor and the Manhattan skyline. The wheel will be the centerpiece of complex that will include a hotel and a 350,000 square foot retail center called Harbor Commons.

Supporters have been lobbying for the Wheel as a tourist draw for Staten Island, which is sometimes called the "forgotten borough."

"This is the biggest thing that ever happened to the north shore of Staten Island," Councilwoman Deborah Rose told reporters.