RYE _ Officials of Westchester county's Playland Amusement Park say there's new emphasis on safety this year after several summers in which the park was plagued by a series of accidents, some of them fatal.

County Parks Commissioner Joseph Stout says the program begins at the gate, where employees called safety greeters hand out pamphlets and talk to visitors about following proper rules. He says park workers have more training and there are new.

The county also spent 1.7 million on two new rides replacing the Power Surge and Mind Scrambler.

Stout says this "layer of safety" seeks to dispel the idea that the park, which opened last weekend, is a dangerous place. He tells the Journal News that is "still a perception that we wanted to hit head on."