Megabuck Water Park to Be Built in the Big Apple

A proposal to build a $168 million water park that would bring wave pools and 80-foot water slides to New York City won final approval Tuesday.

The city´s Franchise and Concession Review Committee gave its OK to the project, which is set to open before the summer of 2007. It will be built by a company called the Aquatic Development Group.

The 26-acre attraction will be on parkland on Randalls Island, where the East and Harlem Rivers meet under the Triborough Bridge.

Randalls Island was designated a city park in 1933, and its primary attraction has been a sports and concert arena. The water park idea was first floated in 1999.