Exclusive: Inside story of smaller N.Y. Wheel in the works for St. George Updated Feb 19, 2021; Posted Feb 19, 2021 The new project promises to be a wheel more similar in size to the London Eye (pictured here), which is 443 feet high. (Plain Dealer/Laura DeMarco)Laura DeMarco Facebook Share STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- CanAm Enterprises, which is a sponsor of EB-5 regional center projects, believes the plan to build a smaller version of the New York Wheel -- about 420 feet high -- on the St. George waterfront will likely happen by early 2025, the Advance has learned. The initial N.Y. Wheel project reached its demise on Oct. 23, 2018, when its principals announced they would not follow through with the construction of the 630-foot-high tourist attraction, whose cost had snowballed from an original estimate of $250 million to close to $1 billion. Before the project was abandoned by its major investors, about $200 million was invested to build infrastructure on the site, including the Wheel’s giant pedestals and a largely-complete terminal building and parking garage.