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New York Wheel Builders Think They'll Make More Tourist Money than the Empire State Building

New York
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The New York Wheel's developers, Meir Laufer, Richard Marin and Andrew Ratner, say they expect pre-tax revenues of $127.85M for their Staten Island Ferris wheel. 

That would top earnings at the Empire State Building’s famous observation deck by about $16M, according to The Real Deal. Projections for admissions fees clock in at $96M for the first year of operations, with sponsorships bringing in another $10M and gift shop sales accounting for $8.7M.

The developers say the total revenues should reach $166.5M annually by 2021. The estimates are based on the 630-foot tall wheel having a huge opening year, with 4 million visitors, and nearly keeping pace with that number by drawing 3.5 million a year thereafter. By comparison, the London Eye has averaged 4 million visitors a year since it opened in 2015. [TRD]