In gratitude, Deno's offered customers free rides on its Wonder Wheel all day Sunday.

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Vourderis, whose family owns and operates Deno's Famous Wonder Wheel Amusement Park.

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"It's a way of my family thanking everybody, " said Deno Vourderis, 27 years old, whose older relatives began running the attraction 25 years ago.

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By comparison, the London Eye, the popular 12-year-old tourist attraction on the South Bank near Parliament, is 443 feet tall, while Deno's Wonder Wheel at Coney Island stands 150 feet high.

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David Deno, chief financial officer of Yum!

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