Despite notoriously wet weather, Coney Island had quite a ride this summer.
About 640,000 people visited the new Scream Zone and Luna Park, taking more than 2 million rides.
The previous summer season, before Scream Zone opened, 450,000 thrill-seekers visited Luna Park during its opening season, and went on 1.7 million individual rides.
City officials hailed the data, saying the addition and popularity of the Scream Zone — which includes a human slingshot and roller coasters — helped prevent what could have been a difficult summer for Coney Island.
Both new parks are run by Zamperla USA, which the city tapped to revive the legendary amusement area.
“Efforts to revitalize Coney Island continue to gain momentum . . . while simultaneously generating additional job opportunities for local residents,” said Seth Pinsky, head of the city’s Economic Development Corp.
“The steady increase in visitors drawn by dramatic new amusements is helping to bring more people back to the ‘people’s playground.’ ”
But while more people hit the amusement parks, fewer hit the beaches and boardwalk.
Tropical Storm Irene shut down the boardwalk for a week, and other lousy weather also drained profits of seaside businesses.
In 2010, 14 million people visited Coney Island’s beach and Boardwalk – almost four times as many as in 2009 and the most since Steeplechase Park closed in 1964. But this summer, the amount of visitors plummeted to 11 million, which officials largely blame on the rainy weather