Cyclone Coverup!

The Post reports that Coney Island’s Cyclone had an accident and the family operating the landmarked rollercoaster have covered it up:

A terrifying accident that injured four riders on Coney Island’s world famous Cyclone was the real reason the roller coaster was knocked out of commission, it was revealed yesterday, not the routine maintenance the ride’s operators initially reported.

The 78-year-old coaster screeched to a dead halt during its first death-defying 85-foot drop last Saturday night when the three-car train struck a “misaligned track” at 60 mph, sending four people to the hospital with whiplash and forcing it to be shut down by the city, said Buildings Department spokeswoman Jennifer Givner.

That’s a far cry from Astroland Park manager Mark Blumenthal’s claim after the accident that the ride was shut down — midway through Labor Day weekend — for basic repairs caused by heavy usage over a busy summer season.

What really happened was every Cyclone’s riders’ worst nightmare come true, said one person who claimed, in an anonymous posting on the Web site Craigslist, to have been aboard the ride from hell that night.

“The steel track snapped, the front wheels came off the first car, sparks were flying on the wooden track,” the posting read. “Several safety bars were no longer locked in when we finally stopped, others had to be broken out of their cars.

“The broken steel track on exiting looked like three folded Z’s stacked on top of each other. The wood underneath it had snapped in several places.”

When pressed for comment, Astroland spokesman Joseph Carella admitted an accident had taken place, but said it was far less severe than the Web posting described and insisted the ride is very safe.

“It’s an old lady, and it requires a lot of maintenance, and the care that they put into this is extraordinary,” he said.

Why news of an accident at one of the city’s most well known landmarks would take a week to come to light was not immediately clear.

But Carella said the fact that the Albert family — which has run the ride since 1975 — was in the process of rebidding for the city contract to manage it had nothing to do with it.

“They made all the proper reports,” Carella said. “These people aren’t foolish enough to think that when you have such a visible attraction that this wouldn’t come out.”

Bridge and Tunnel Club was on the scene that Sunday, and thought it strange that the ride was not operating on a busy Labor Day weekend with only a hastily written sign announcing the closing. Little did anyone know . . .