{"id":318804,"date":"2026-08-11T17:56:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/318804\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T17:56:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:56:40","slug":"coasters-for-charity-local-nonprofits-to-race-across-luna-parks-8-roller-coasters-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/318804\/","title":{"rendered":"Coasters for charity: Local nonprofits to race across Luna Park\u2019s 8 roller coasters \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coney Island is gearing up for a high-speed fundraiser this weekend as local nonprofits take on Luna Park\u2019<\/a>s eight roller coasters for the annual Charity Coasterthon.<\/p>\n

The event will take place Aug. 16 in celebration of National Roller Coaster Day. Beginning at 11 a.m., three-person teams representing seven local organizations will have two hours to ride as many of Luna Park\u2019s roller coasters as possible.<\/p>\n

Participants will race from coaster to coaster, receiving a stamp after each completed ride. When the competition ends at 1 p.m., the stamps will be counted to determine which team completed the most rides.<\/p>\n

The winning organization will receive a $10,000 donation from Luna Park, while the second- and third-place teams will receive $5,000 and $3,000, respectively. The remaining participating organizations will each receive $1,000.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s participating nonprofits are Art\u2019s House Schools of Music, Dance and Fine Arts<\/a>; Brooklyn United<\/a>; Children of Promise<\/a>; Coney Island Sharks<\/a>; The B.R.O. (Brothers Redefining Opportunity) Experience; <\/a>Coney Island USA<\/a> and the Wildlife Conservation Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"LunaThis year\u2019s event is in anticipation of the Cyclone\u2019s 100th birthday next year.Photo courtesy of Luna Park<\/p>\n

Alessandro Zamperla, president and CEO of Central Amusement International, said that the Coasterthon is one of the park\u2019s \u201cfavorite traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year is especially meaningful as we celebrate the Coney Island Cyclone\u2019s 99th anniversary and continue the countdown to its historic centennial,\u201d he said. \u201cThe event brings together everything we love about Luna Park, from thrilling rides, friendly competition and the opportunity to give back. We look forward to cheering on each participating team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fundraiser comes as Luna Park marks the 99th anniversary of the legendary Coney Island Cyclone, with the park counting down to the coaster\u2019s centennial in 2027.\n<\/p>\n

The Cyclone, which has become one of the area\u2019s most recognizable landmarks, is part of the amusement district\u2019s long history of thrills. During Sunday\u2019s Coasterthon, however, teams will have all eight of Luna Park\u2019s coasters to choose from as they attempt to rack up as many rides as possible.<\/p>\n

\"\"Teams of three have two hours to ride as many coasters as they can. The first-place winners will receive a $10,000 donation.File photo courtesy of Erica Price<\/p>\n

Luna Park said the event is intended to support organizations working in local communities while bringing together nonprofits for a day of competition and fun.<\/p>\n

Admission to Luna Park is free, with individual ride prices starting at $4. For thrill-averse guests, the park features more than 50 attractions, including food, shopping and entertainment along the Riegelmann Boardwalk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coney Island is gearing up for a high-speed fundraiser this weekend as local nonprofits take on Luna Park\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[17454,98,10454,100,99,29331,120209,29332,119,120210,37808,120211,14488,120212,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-318804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-amusement-parks","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-events","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-nonprofits","tag-charity-coasterthon","tag-community-events","tag-coney-island","tag-coney-island-cyclone","tag-family-events","tag-local-charities","tag-luna-park","tag-national-roller-coaster-day","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}