NEW YORK, NY September 08, 2008 —After nearly 50 years in Coney Island, Astroland Amusement Park has shut down, and more than 300 workers are now looking for new jobs. Owner Carol Hill Albert says last night's closing is permanent one. She says there were never any negotiations with the city or private developer Thor Equities, which have competing plans for the three-acre Brooklyn site.

Employee Knejulanna King said goodbye to the rides she's operated for 14 years.

KING: Well, I want to give a shout out to kiddie park because that's everything that I operated the 2000 - the tilt, the motorcycles, the Himalaya , the combat when that was here, the worm, the convoys, the scramblers - all 15 rides that I did.

REPORTER: The children's area was the first part of the park to shut down last night. Some Astroland workers will stay to pack up the rides and games, which is expected to take several months.

The Cyclone roller coaster and the 150-foot Wonder Wheel are separately owned and landmarked by the city, so they're not affected by the closing.