–By Elliot Walker
A handful of rides at Rye Playland are either out of service for routine maintenance or were closed for repairs last week and reopened.
Two rides were taken out of service for repairs on Thursday, July 1. “Jack the Puppeteer,” a scrambler-style ride that resembles a giant wooden puppet, was off line from noon to 7:30 p.m. The ride is the park’s newest, announced last year and opened this season to the public.
“Catch a Wave,” a Miami-style ride in which a row of seats is rotated in a vertical circle in front of beach imagery, was out from 1:45 p.m. until park closing at 9 p.m.

File photo
Rye Playland, owned by Westchester County and managed and operated by Standard Amusements LLC, opened for its 96th summer this year.
Of the park’s 40 rides, four others have been down for maintenance. “The Saw Mill River” log flume is unavailable because of a pump problem and the “YoYo” is currently unavailable and in need of a part. In the Kiddyland section of the park, the “Crazy Submarine” is not currently operating while Playland acquires necessary parts and the “Boat Ride” is out of service because of its aging motors.
And that doesn’t include the closure of the ferris wheel when park officials discovered two ospreys nests atop one of the ride’s gondolas halting its operation for the park’s grand opening on May 18.
A park spokesman said the older rides at the park are hard to maintain, because the necessary parts are difficult to acquire. He said that Playland is a multiyear investment and the park’s new operators hope that by maintaining the old rides, they can preserve Playland’s iconic appeal.