The Luna Park amusement park on New York's Coney Island is reported to have attracted more than 400,000 visitors this summer, the highest figure for any summer since Steeplechase Park closed in 1964.

The 3.1-acre park was opened in May this year by the city of New York and Central Amusement International as part of the Coney Island Revitalization Plan. It features 19 attractions, both traditional and new state-of-the-art, which saw in excess of 1.7 million rides taken.

Based on success of its inaugural season, the city and Central Amusement International have extended the park's 2010 season by three weeks until the end of October. This will include new programming featuring Halloween themes scheduled to debut on 15 October.

The second phase of Luna Park - the Scream Zone - is on track to open for summer 2011 with an additional four rides.

Elsewhere in the area, more than 14 million people visited Coney Island's Beach and Boardwalk, almost four times as many as in 2009.

The Coney Island Revitalization Plan - in which the city of New York has invested more than US$6m (£3.8m) - is designed to preserve and develop the historic amusement area in addition to creating a mixed-use neighbourhood with new retail outlets and nearly 5,000 new housing units.

As part of the plan, the city is also investing a total of more than US$130m (£83m) towards Phase One infrastructure improvements in Coney Island, including upgrading the underground infrastructure and rebuilding large sections of the Boardwalk.

Image: Kai Brinker