ST. GEORGE — The first major pieces of the New York Wheel arrived on Staten Island just as the developers settled a suit with one of their early investors.
The four 100-ton pedestals will hold the legs of the 630-foot-tall observation wheel in place. They arrived from Canada last week, the first major parts of the structure to arrive in the borough, according to the developers. The 2,200 legs that will hold the structure arrived in Brooklyn last month.
The pedestals — which are 18 feet in diameter — were built by ADF Group, located outside of Montreal, and transported over the Hudson River to the construction site on St. George's waterfront.
Aside from the pedestals, the developers also announced Monday that they had settled a lawsuit filed by early investor Meir Laufer.
"New York Wheel LLC, Wheel Estate LLC, and Meir Laufer are pleased to announce that they have amicably and conclusively resolved their disagreements," they said in a joint statement.
"New York Wheel wishes to express its gratitude to Meir for his contributions as Founder of the Wheel Project. All parties look forward to the opening of the wheel in 2018."
Last year, Laufer — who was one of the first to join the project — filed a lawsuit against Wheel Estate LLC claiming his partner tried to push him out from the deal, partly because he's Jewish.
Developers on Monday did not provide details about the resolution of the suit or Laufer's current stake in the project.
The developers have also been involved in a legal battle with another early investor, Eric Kaufman.
Despite the legal battles, crews have been working at the site of the $590 million observation wheel — which will be one of the tallest in the world — for more than a year.
Construction on the wheel is expected to be finished in October of next year, but developers pushed back the opening to April 2018 to give them more time to test the attraction's safety.
