Dardevil, Nik Wallenda, gets OK from New York for Niagra Falls tightrope walk, waiting for Canada
Mike Derer/APNik Wallenda, a circus high-wire daredevil and the seventh generation of the Flying Wallendas circus family, has gotten the OK from New York lawmakers to walk over Niagra Falls.
BY Larry Mcshane DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
BY Larry Mcshane DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, June 24th 2011
Daredevil Nik Wallenda is about halfway to his dream of walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls.
The seventh-generation stunt scion is awaiting the OK from the Canadian government for his death-defying walk after getting approval from the New York Legislature.
"I almost tear up thinking about being out in the middle of that and what it's going to look like," Wallenda said after this week's votes by the state Assembly and Senate.
"It's going to be amazing."
But it's not going to happen unless the Ontario-based Niagara Parks Commission gives its approval to the plan for a walk above the 180-foot Horseshoe Falls.
The 2,200-foot trip would be the first of its kind, as other daredevils have done the walk downstream. The last pre-approved high-wire trip over the raging waters was done in 1910.
The Canadian commission, which has turned down a number of requests in the past, said it has not yet received an application from Wallenda.
The 32-year-old Wallenda, who walked his first tightrope at age 2, has until August 2012 to arrange his stunt under the New York legislation - although he has yet to pick a date. Gov. Cuomo must also sign off on the bill.
Wallenda, star of the new Discovery Channel series "Life on a Wire," has promised to cover all the costs of the event.
lmcshane@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/06/24/2011-06-24_daredevil_nik_wallenda_gets_ok_from_new_york_for_niagra_falls_tightrope_walk_wai.html#ixzz1QIRgtr8n
Daredevil Nik Wallenda is about halfway to his dream of walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls.
The seventh-generation stunt scion is awaiting the OK from the Canadian government for his death-defying walk after getting approval from the New York Legislature.
"I almost tear up thinking about being out in the middle of that and what it's going to look like," Wallenda said after this week's votes by the state Assembly and Senate.
"It's going to be amazing."
But it's not going to happen unless the Ontario-based Niagara Parks Commission gives its approval to the plan for a walk above the 180-foot Horseshoe Falls.
The 2,200-foot trip would be the first of its kind, as other daredevils have done the walk downstream. The last pre-approved high-wire trip over the raging waters was done in 1910.
The Canadian commission, which has turned down a number of requests in the past, said it has not yet received an application from Wallenda.
The 32-year-old Wallenda, who walked his first tightrope at age 2, has until August 2012 to arrange his stunt under the New York legislation - although he has yet to pick a date. Gov. Cuomo must also sign off on the bill.
Wallenda, star of the new Discovery Channel series "Life on a Wire," has promised to cover all the costs of the event.
lmcshane@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/06/24/2011-06-24_daredevil_nik_wallenda_gets_ok_from_new_york_for_niagra_falls_tightrope_walk_wai.html#ixzz1QIRgtr8n
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