The antique carousel in Greenport Village will gallop back to life Saturday after passing a state safety inspection.

Village Mayor Kevin Stuessi said the state Department of Labor conducted the inspection Tuesday morning, giving the all-clear about eight months after the amusement ride was shut down due to a mechanical failure.

“It’s a great attraction; it brings folks in,” Stuessi said in an interview. “It’s been unfortunate that we haven’t had it operational through the winter and early spring, but [we're] thrilled that we’re getting it reopened.”

A ribbon-cutting and reopening ceremony is planned Saturday at 11 a.m. at the carousel, which spins in an enclosure in Mitchell Park.

The century-old ride brings in about $190,000 in revenue for the village each year. It closed Sept. 29 after a malfunction caused horses to lurch from their tracks. The incident caused major damage, but no injuries were reported, Newsday previously reported.

Local business owners are also among those happy to see it return.

Brittany Calvert, the owner of Tea and Tchotchkes, just across from the carousel, said it "really helps drive traffic and business into the store." She said it was hard to “put a number” on how the closure impacted business — her store is open seasonally starting in March. But people noticed.

“We heard it all spring [from people asking], ‘When’s the carousel going to happen?’” Calvert said.

Brandon Chinn, one of the owners of Crazy Beans down the street from the carousel, said the restaurant didn’t perform as well as it had in past winters. He blamed the ride's shutdown.

“[Business was] very, very slow and really, really bad,” Chinn said. “We didn’t see that many people here because typically, kids spend here [at the restaurant] and there [at the carousel]. We don’t have too many places [where kids could play around].” 

Nancy Kouris, president of the village’s Business Improvement District, said the reopening will help drum up business downtown just in time for the busy summer season.

“It keeps families in the village, it gives the children something to do,” she said. “It’s like a catalyst.”

Over the winter, a restoration crew meticulously dismantled the carousel, replacing aging wood timbers and bearings in the structure’s center pole. Repairs were handled by WRF Designs, a carousel restoration company based in Connecticut, and North Fork Welding. They were overseen by village marina and parks supervisor Rick Albanese, Stuessi said.

Financial documents show the village spent $84,000 on repairs through April, and Stuessi said the village has spent closer to $100,000 on the project.

One of the horses has been fully restored and repainted, Stuessi said, as a “gift” to the village.

“We intend to use that as a showcase, and we’re going to work with The Friends of Mitchell Park to try and raise some funds over the long term to eventually restore all the horses,” he said.

Stuessi said the village also plans to seek grants to complete additional repairs on the structure, panel doors and horse restoration, a project that could cost over $250,000.

The merry-go-round features 36 horses and two sleigh seats and was originally built as a traveling amusement ride intended to be taken apart and moved, officials said.

Stuessi said this is the first time the ride was fully disassembled since it was moved to Mitchell Park in 2001.

It was previously owned by Grumman Aircraft Corp., which used it for company events before donating it to Greenport Village after a local competition, according to the village website.

“I’m happy that it’s going to get back up and running, and that we paid the proper attention to it,” said village trustee Julia Robins, who has been involved with the carousel since it was brought to Greenport. “It looks like the old carousel again.”

The mechanical failure was the second time the aging attraction was shut down in recent years. In 2023, the village spent $67,500 to remediate lead paint discovered on some horses, forcing the closure of the ride for two months.

More recreation improvements could be coming to the waterfront park. The village opted not to open a deteriorating seasonal ice rink in Mitchell Park last year, which also dealt a blow to local businesses in the offseason.

Last summer, the state awarded $1.2 million to the village to build a new rink. Stuessi said Tuesday that the village will begin the design and engineering of that project in the fall.

Newsday's Viyang Hao contributed to this story.