Chicago’s Connections To New York Theme Park

Chicago is about 700 miles from New York City. During the summer of 1960, though, that distance seemed a bit closer as several Chi-Town residents temporarily relocated to The Big Apple during the inaugural season of what was billed as the “Disneyland of the East.”

Freedomland U.S.A. was an American history theme park located in The Bronx. The park lasted just five seasons (1960-1964) before it was razed. One of the world’s largest housing developments and its adjacent shopping center now occupy the property.

C. V. Wood created and built Freedomland U.S.A. (visit the Facebook group). Known to many as Woody, he was Disneyland's first employee and he brought Walt Disney's imagination to life by leading the team that built that park. He then created Marco Engineering to build theme parks and other venues across the country.

The new book, Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History, provides the story about the New York park from conception to bankruptcy. It features the personal stories of park employees through interviews with character actors, restaurant staff, parking attendants, and those who operated some of the attractions. The president of the park, a trophy business owner who managed events and a college student who escorted VIPs were from Chicago. Published by Theme Park Press, the book is available online from Amazon, eBay, Goodreads and Barnes&Noble.

The Chicago Connection

Freedomland’s Chicago connections included attorney Milton T. (Ted) Raynor as the park’s opening season president, business owner Sam Greller and college co-ed Diana Karasik Levin.

Levin learned about Freedomland from family friend Greller, who had been hired by another family friend and his nephew (Raynor) to support the park’s special events that first season. Greller had overseen special events for the 1933-1934 Chicago World’s Fair. Levin was offered a position for the summer in the park’s guest relations department.

Levin escorted entertainer Pat Boone and his family on opening day. The Boone family cut the ceremonial ribbon on June 19, 1960. She also escorted actress Sandra Dee, who was married to Freedomland entertainer Bobby Darin, and she worked with young television journalist Barbara Walters as she prepared a segment about the park for the NBC program Today.

Another college student, Alice Faye Harris, also worked that summer in guest relations and became Levin’s lifelong friend. Harris is the daughter of actress/singer Alice Fay and comedian, musician and bandleader Phil Harris.

“Freedomland was a great place to work for college grads and out-of-work actors,” said Levin in the new book. “To this day, my daughter, Laura Levin Jordan, who knows of my Freedomland training and how I always organized family trips to amusement parks, tells friends that if they plan to visit any theme park that they should make sure they take me with them.”

Freedomland’s Demise

Though popular with guests, especially baby boomers, the park, unfortunately, served as a placeholder for the land. This was not known at the time to the creator of the park, the employees or the public.

The park had been built on vacant marshland. To ensure future commercial development of the property for the owner and the city, variances were required for the construction of permanent structures such as the 25-30 story apartment buildings that have occupied the land for five decades. During the early 1960s, New York City, especially The Bronx, was negotiating its urban footprint transition.

The variances required that the park operate for five years without any damage to the structures from tidal water that continued to filter through the property under the park. Freedomland did just that, and then management declared bankruptcy. Assets were sold and the land was redesigned for housing for more than 50,000 residents.