iFLY opens skydiving facility at Ridge Hill

Visitors can shop, dine and now fly at Westchester’s Ridge Hill in Yonkers.

Austin, Texas-based indoor skydiving company iFLY Holdings, LLC recently opened its 13th location in the U.S. at the Yonkers shopping center.

The facility simulates the experience of skydiving out of an airplane through a 14-foot diameter wind tunnel powered by electric motors. Certified flight instructors lead courses, which are open to both children and adults.

iFLY President and Chief Operating Officer Matt Ryan said the company’s customers include corporate clients, professional skydivers, military members and students.

“Our mission is to deliver the dream of flight to everybody, whether you’re age three or 103,” Ryan said.

iFLY, which began in 1998 as SkyVenture LLC before its rebranding in 2005, has 38 locations in U.S. Canada, Europe and Asia. Ground was broken on the Ridge Hill location in May.

Kathryn Welch, executive vice president of Forest City Ratner Companies, Ridge Hill”™s developer, said the company was “very excited” to bring the skydiving facility to Yonkers.

“iFLY delivers an amazing, family-friendly and thrilling experience to Ridge Hill,” she said.

iFLY is the most recent entertainment facility to open at the 1.3 million-square-foot Ridge Hill shopping center, following Muse Paintbar last month.

In October, officials from Forest City Ratner Companies, a subsidiary of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, Inc., said the shopping center had filled 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space during the first half of 2015.