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Up, Up And Away: Central Park From 300 Ft. Above!

'Aero-Balloon' Offers Rides For $25 Until August 22 In Celebrating Central Park's 150th Anniversary

NEW YORK (CBS) ― It's up, up and away in Central Park. Starting Friday, you can take a ride 30-stories above the park in a balloon. The new feature at the world famous park is to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its design. CBS 2's Magee Hickey shows us a first-hand look at the breathtaking views that make the ride so special.

It's a celebration of the 150th anniversary of Central Park; a 10-minute helium balloon ride, and what a ride it is!

"It's silent and majestically beautiful," says Magee Hickey as she scans the horizon from 300 feet above what Frederick Law Olmstead created in 1858, America's first major urban park, originally called the Greensward Plan.

"You can really see the magnificence of the design of the Greensward Plan. Olmstead and Vaux, truly a masterpiece from the ground and above," said Central Park Conservancy President Doug Blonsky.

This aero-balloon ride is not to be confused with a hot-air balloon ride. The 45-foot-wide balloon is filled with more than 47,000 cubic feet of helium, and as Hickey observed, it's an eerily quiet ride. The balloon is anchored to a winch on the ground. It is never in free flight, but "you feel free nonetheless," said Hickey.

"To have the opportunity to have an aerial view of the entire skyline. 369 degrees of Manhattan. It's not possible except in a balloon in the center of central park," said President of Aero-Balloon Doug Hase.

Aero-Balloon had to secure a slew of permits, including one from the FAA, promising not to go higher than 500 feet into New York's airspace. The balloons are not allowed to take off if the winds are over 15 miles per hour.

But for ten minutes and $25, it's a little slice of heaven, or close to it.

The Aero-Balloon rides are going up, up and away, seven days a week, weather permitting until August 22, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The helium balloon rides are on a first come first serve basis from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. But they do take reservations for the early morning ride from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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