- Back in May, I connected with Deno Vourderis,
he and his family own the Wonder Wheel in Coney Island.
It's one of the most iconic landmarks in Brooklyn.
I cannot believe I'd never been there.
Have y'all ever been to the Wonder Wheel?
Have you ever done?
- No.
- [Kelly] Oh my gosh, you have too.
I'd never done it either and I've been here so much.
Like since like, a sophomore in high school, so fun.
But I'd never been to Coney Island before
and so, I knew I had to surprise Deno with a pop-up visit.
So, check this out.
(swooshing)
(upbeat music)
Let's do this.
I'm going to go surprise Deno, he doesn't know I'm coming.
- We were lucky enough to be able to open,
thanks to those hardworking, first responders.
As New York city came back,
this was one of the first things to reopen.
- Ready? Okay.
- My favorite part of Coney Island,
is the Wonder Wheel, right back there.
- Look behind you.
- What's up, Deno?
(Deno gasps) (Kelly laughs)
I told you, I'd show up. (Kelly laughs)
How are you?
- Hold on.
(Kelly laughs)
I turned around...
And I'm like, I want to say, "Excuse me,
I'm doing something for the Kelly Clarkson show".
And it was Kelly Clarkson.
(Deno laughs)
- How's it been since COVID,
it's starting to get better, right?
- Okay, so yes, New York city, thankfully
is starting to get better.
- Yeah.
- We're all excited about that.
You know, they call us, "New York tough"
and "New York strong" because we always get back up.
- All right, will you take me on a tour?
- Let's go.
- I've heard you have games.
- We have lots of games, do you like games?
- Do you know that I'm competitive.
Did you know this?
If you didn't know that...
- Do you cheat?
- No. - I cheat.
(Kelly gasps)
- Wrong, you are not cheating today.
- I'm cheating.
- I'm going to beat you, fair and square.
I was like, so excited to surprise you.
(Kelly laughs)
(upbeat music)
Hi. - Hello.
- Can we play? - Yeah.
- Okay, oh, I'm so excited.
(bell rings)
(bell rings) (Kelly screams)
Yes.
What?
- I didn't think she would be that competitive
with games but...
(bell rings)
She's Miss Competition.
- All right, let's go, let's see something else.
- She really beat you.
- [Kelly] Good game, guys.
- Good game, good game.
(upbeat music)
- [Deno] Okay.
- [Kelly] Okay.
My favorite thing I've learned about this park,
is there was a promise involved, right?
With your grandfather?
- Yes, my grandfather and grandmother worked really hard.
They were on a date.
They used to come to Coney Island, all the time.
And one time he got on his knee, said,
"I don't have a lot of money,
but one day I will buy you that Ferris Wheel, over there
and you'll have the biggest ring in the world".
- So he got it?
- And then he bought it and he had to give it to her.
- Oh my gosh.
- It took another 35, 40 years,
but eventually he fulfilled that promise
and got her that engagement ring.
- [Kelly] Wow, that's a beautiful story.
(upbeat music)
I would really like....
- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait for me, wait for me,
wait for me, hi. - What are you doing here?
(upbeat music)
- I turn around and see Angie Martinez,
the voice of New York.
- I've never been here, this is my first time.
- Well, I grew up like walking distance from here.
So, I used to sneak out of my house,
in the middle of the night and come here,
when my mother was out or sleeping,
I would come here. (Angie laughs)
It was the thing, Kelly.
- That's awesome.
- [Deno] It's still the thing.
- It's still the thing? It's still the thing.
Welcome to New York, Baby.
- Welcome to New York.
(upbeat music)
Okay, the coolest thing I love about the city,
you both grew up here.
I feel like there's been like, so many huge things happen
in this city, that usually would break, you know,
an individual, that usually would break the spirit,
but it seems like so resilient.
And that's why I loved coming here for our premiere.
- New Yorkers are the most resilient people,
in the world, I think.
But even coming here, to Coney Island today,
reminding me of when I came after Hurricane Sandy
and everybody just wanted to help
and it's really, a phenomenal thing
to see people who are going through
the most scariest thing of their life
and saying, "Do you need anything?
What can I do for you? How can I help you?"
- You know, they call us, "New York tough"
and "New York strong" because we always get back up.
- All right, let's go play.
(upbeat music)
- [Angie] You go first, Kelly.
- Okay, okay.
- [Angie] Terrible, yes.
Oh.
(Kelly and Angie laugh)
- You got to try to hit the cans.
(beeping)
- Get out of here.
(upbeat music)
- Oh, that's how.
- [Angie] I knew it.
I got to go, I got to go, I got to go.
(Kelly laughs)
- I love you.
- I adore you, welcome to New York, Baby.
- I already knew I loved you, but I love you more in person.
You're so cool.
- Kelly and I were supposed to get
on the Phoenix rollercoaster together,
but then I saw a River come up
and I said, "This is even better,"
because that's what Coney Island's about.
It's about a mother and her daughter,
sitting on a ride, smiling together.
(upbeat music)
(Kelly screams)
- That was awesome.
- Can we go again?
- That was awesome. - Can we go again?
- Can we go, one more time?
(upbeat music)
(audience cheers)
All right, Angie was a great surprise, right?
(audience applause)
She is actually, with us now from Power 105,
right here in NYC.
- Hello, hello, hello, hello. (audience cheers)
- [Kelly] It's the voice of New York,
Angie Martinez, everybody.
So, I warned you that I could get competitive.
- I'm like halfway happy to see her
and I'm halfway irritated by her.
- So, you always have a pulse
on what's happening in New York
and there's something cool coming, right?
- There's a lot of cool things going on.
First of all, we just had a hip-hop history.
Well, hip-hop history month, comes in November,
but around hip-hop, right now, there's a lot going on.
There's a museum, getting ready to open in the Bronx.
So, you'll have to come back for that,
when they launch that and I will take you.
- Momma will show up.
- [Angie] Momma will show up,
in a hip-hop museum, when it opens and we'll go do that.
And then we'll play a game and I'll beat you.
(audience laughs) That's what we'll do.
- You know what? It sounds like an amazing date.
(Angie laughs) I'm in, I'm in.