Greenport Carousel Closed Indefinitely Pending Mechanical Repairs

An iconic mainstay of the North Fork’s lone village is shut down – for now.

The Greenport Carousel, located in the village’s Mitchell Park, has been closed indefinitely while it undergoes repairs. According to village officials, there had been plans to close it down for repairs in January – the true offseason – but the failures were deemed significant enough that the closing needed to happen now.

“There was a mechanical failure with a couple of the horses, which caused the carousel to stop, and it created some other issues,” Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi told Dan’s Papers. “There was a small number of riders on at the time. Nobody was hurt, but it’s going to require some extensive work to the carousel.”

According to Stuessi, the carousel is a major revenue source for the village, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

It’s believed that the carousel originated with a traveling carnival as far back as 1920, but its first recorded history starts in the 1950s when Northrop Grumman used it for community events at their Calverton plant.

The carousel was gifted to the village by Grumman in 1995, beating both Riverhead Town and a New Jersey amusement park for it.

It’s the first major closing of the carousel since it opened, though Stuessi noted that it was shut down briefly in 2023 for minor repairs to remove lead paint. The exact timeline for when it will become operational again is unknown.

“At this point, it’s going to require a good amount of evaluation, and we have a carousel specialist who is coming down in a week to review it,” Stuessi added. “They’ve gotten a whole bunch of photos, but they’re going to be on site. We’ll be very fortunate if we are somehow able to get it reopened by Christmas, but certainly closed through Thanksgiving.”

Due to the abundance of fall activities such as apple picking, pumpkin picking, fall festivals, and more, the North Fork sees a lot of tourism this kind of year, and Greenport sees a lot of that tourism, with the carousel being a major draw for families.

Despite its shutdown, Stuessi reminded both locals and visitors that there’s still plenty to do in Greenport.

“Even without the carousel, it’s a wonderful, walkable village,” Stuessi said. “Great views of the water, wonderful shops, restaurants, coffee bars. And then over the holiday season, we have what many consider one of the most extravagant holiday lighting schemes throughout Mitchell Park and on Front Street and Main Street in the village. We do a big Halloween parade and trick or treating for kids with all the stores. We do a large Christmas parade as well with the Fire Department and others, and a menorah lighting, too, when Hanukkah starts. There’s also the North Fork Arts Center, which is the renovated Greenport movie theater that went up in 1939, which shows first run films and art films, and other special events such as Brooklyn Ballet and more.”