Tuesday, March 25, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
For the second time this month, the New York-New York hotel-casino has shut down its Manhattan Express roller coaster.
The latest closure was done voluntarily Saturday morning after resort engineers discovered that areas of the track had indications of stress. The first closure in mid-March was ordered by the Clark County Building Department after it was discovered that tension rods were in need of repair.
"Our No. 1 priority is the safety of our passengers," said Marty Moore, vice president of sales and marketing for New York-New York. "We follow a meticulous inspection schedule, and as soon as we become aware of any problems ... we (correct them)."
Paige Gill, spokeswoman for the Strip resort that opened in January, said the previous Clark County "concerns had been fully rectified." She said the ride was closed this time "during a regularly ... scheduled maintenance inspection."
Gill noted that Togo, manufacturer of the amusement ride, has implemented a repair schedule and the roller coaster is expected to be operational within a week.
After the first closure this month, which lasted several days, inspectors said there were no immediate safety threats. They were, however, concerned about long-term effects on the structural integrity of the support columns.
New York-New York failed to report the earlier problems, inspectors said, and attempted to do unauthorized repairs that also failed code.
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