Movie theaters, hotels, restaurants and other businesses are putting a lot of thought into the process.

By Alyson Krueger

When Coney Island reopened this month after more than a year of sickness, death and unemployment, officials wanted to make sure the ceremony hit the right tone: one of joy, but also of respect and gratitude.

“We know that this wouldn’t be possible without the frontline heroes that helped save countless lives and continue to help our community heal through the pandemic,” said Alessandro Zamperla, the president and chief executive of Central Amusement International, which owns Luna Park.

To that end, the first passengers to ride the Cyclone, the 90-year-plus wooden roller coaster there, would be 100 essential workers from nearby Coney Island Hospital, selected from a raffle.

One of the lucky riders was Dawn Lanzisera, who works in the psychiatric emergency room. “I grew up near here,” she said of the Brooklyn neighborhood. No stranger to the Cyclone, she’s ridden it over 100 times, she said. “It’s so great to be here and see life return.”

Steven Kushnir, a supervisor in the patients’ account department, was not feeling so confident before the experience. “I am definitely going to scream,” he said. “I am happy I saw someone go on a test ride before,” he continued. “This ride is almost 100 years old. You don’t want to be the first.”

But for official purposes, on this day he and his co-workers were the first. As soon as the speeches had concluded and the gates had opened, the rickety roller coaster cars, filled with hospital employees, started their climb to the top, one that offered stunning views of the ocean and boardwalk. As the coaster plunged 85 feet, the screams may have reflected the release of a pandemic year’s worth of tensions.

And just like that, after 529 days, Coney Island Amusement Park was open again.

This has been a spring of reopenings around New York City, with bars, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, even amusement parks coming back to life after the shutdown. Rather than just turn on the lights and open the doors, many owners have sought to celebrate with meaningful gestures. Some places, like Luna Park, are honoring frontline workers. Others are sanctifying their spaces with good luck ceremonies.

“We couldn’t with a straight face pretend this was another day at the office,” said John Vanco, the general manager of the IFC Center, an independent movie theater in Greenwich Village.

In early March, the theater reopened with a series it called “What’d We Miss?” — films that came out during the pandemic but did not get the chance to appear on big screens. Mr. Vanco and his staff, acutely aware that sitting indoors with strangers was not going to come naturally yet for many New Yorkers, wanted to mark the fraught occasion with something special. So Mr. Vanco reached out to the selected films’ directors and asked them to make short movies introducing their work and welcoming back moviegoers.

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