#77 Freedomland U.S.A.: New York's Weirdest Theme Park

The Bowery Boys: New York City History

Tom Meyers

Society & Culture, History, Documentary, Places & Travel

4.8 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2009

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What is Freedomland U.S.A.? An unusual theme park in the Bronx, only in existence for less than five years, Freedomland has become the object of fascination for New York nostalgia lovers everywhere. Created by an outcast of Walt Disney's inner circle, Freedomland practically defines 60s kitsch, with dozens of rides and amusements related to saccharine views of American history. Along the way, we'll take a visit to the Blast-Off Bunker, Casa Loco, and, yes, Borden's Barn Boudoir! www.boweryboyspodcast.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The Bowry Boys episode 77, whatever happened to Freedom Land.
0:06.0	Hey, it's the Bowry Boys.
0:08.0	Hey!
0:09.0	The Bowry Boys is brought to you by EuroChipo.com.
0:13.0	EuroChipo editors personally visit and review the best budget hotels in Europe.
0:18.0	Now with hotels in New York City, on the web at EuroChipo.com.
0:22.0	Hi there, welcome to the Bowry Boys.
0:24.0	This is Greg doing a solo episode this week with a long gone but very nostalgic place
0:29.0	that I imagined that a few Native New Yorkers who are listeners of this show probably still remember.
0:34.0	Once upon a time, 1960 to be exact,
0:37.0	there was a strange and kooky amusement park that spring up on the eastern shores of the Bronx.
0:42.0	Freedom Land, USA, as it was called, is a blip on the map of New York City history.
0:48.0	It was open for only five years and then it was promptly ripped down shortly thereafter.
0:53.0	However, this failed little park has a great story attached,
0:57.0	featuring a Walt Disney reject and a host of cheesy and kind of outrageous rides and attractions attached to it,
1:04.0	all with various themes on American history and various regions of the United States.
1:09.0	And when this park was demolished in the late 1960s,
1:12.0	it was replaced by something that in many ways was even a little more unusual at the time
1:18.0	the world's largest housing development, co-op city.
1:22.0	So in this podcast we'll be visiting the Civil War,
1:25.0	and the San Francisco earthquake will be riding with the pony express
1:29.0	and jetting off into the future on the blast off bunker in satellite city.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tom Meyers, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Tom Meyers and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.