May | 2009 | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for May, 2009

Astroland Closed But Your Kid Can Still Ride the USS Astroland This Summer!

Posted in Amusement ride, tagged Astroland, Boat Ride, Coney Island, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Herschell, Kiddie Park on May 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

USS Astroland, Herschell Boat Ride at Deno's Kiddie Park in Coney Island. Photo by me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

Astroland closed in September 2008, but your kid can still ride the USS Astroland in 2009, and 2010, and far into the future. Wish I could ride too–but grownups aren’t allowed. This classic Allan Herschell kiddie boat ride is in Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, which according to a new sign is “open this year, & next, & next, & next, & next…” Deno’s owns the Wonder Wheel and the land beneath it and has a lease on the kiddie park property through 2020. Last October, the City entered into a purchase agreement to acquire the 1-acre kiddie park parcel for $11 million from the Ward family after Thor Equities dropped out of the deal. The Coney Island Rumor Mill is sayin’ the closing is imminent. Will city officials break a bottle of Brooklyn egg cream against the hull of one of the kiddie boats to celebrate the land acquisition? Of course, the rides belong to Deno’s and are not part of the deal.

Each little boat is named after a different Coney Island park, all defunct now except for Deno’s, whose namesake is the ocean blue USS Deno’s Wonder Wheel. When the rides were repainted a few years ago, former arcade owner and history buff Stan Fox had the idea it would be a neat way to pay tribute to Coney’s amusement heritage. The other boats are named after Boyton’s Sea Lion Park (1895-1902), Luna Park (1903-1946), Dreamland (1904-1911) and Steeplechase (1897-1964).

Although Astroland closed in 2008, Coney Island has 50 54 amusement rides up and running in 2009!

Deno's Wonder Wheel Park's new banner proudly proclaims "We ARE Coney Island!" Photo by Pablo57 via flickr

photo via pablo57, flickr

Coney Island Is Alive and Kicking in 2009 Photo of the Day: New Boardwalk

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged Boardwalk, Coney Island, photograph on May 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

New Boardwalk. Photo by Pablo57 via flickr group Coney Island Is Alive and Kicking and Welcomes Visitors in 2009!

photo via pablo57, flickr

ATZ’s Photo of the Day is from the Coney Island History Project’s flickr group pool Coney Island Is Alive and Kicking and Welcomes Visitors in 2009! Launched in January, the group’s purpose is “to showcase the best of the best images of attractions that will *definitely* be here to welcome visitors in 2009.” The group was started by the Coney Island History Project, a not-for-profit organization that aims to increase awareness of Coney Island’s legendary and colorful past and to encourage appreciation of the Coney Island neighborhood of today.

Today’s photo shows the new section of the Boardwalk in front of Ruby’s and Cha Cha’s. The photographer “Pablo57” is a Coney Island resident who describes himself as a street photographer in the footsteps of Garry Winogrand. He’s an alum of Kevin Downs Summer Photography Workshop at Coney Island USA and plans to take the workshop again this season.

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Save Coney Island Holds Strategy Meeting Tonight, Launches New Website!

Posted in Coney Island, tagged Coney Island, Coney Island Redevelopment, Save Coney Island on May 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

On the eve of an “It’s Now or Never!” meeting to strategize ways to convince the City Council to oppose the City’s rezoning plan or to convince the City to change it, Save Coney Island has launched a new website. The group’s new url is www.saveconeyisland.net. Bookmark it!

The first blog entry on May 17 says:

Save Coney Island will be holding an organizational meeting to plan our final strategy and decide the events for the summer. We need to turn this into the city-wide issue it deserves to be!

This is our last chance!

Please attend this meeting:

WHEN: Tuesday May 19th at 7PM
LOCATION: Downtown Brooklyn at FUREE Headquarters
ADDRESS: 81 Willoughby Street, Ste. 701 (7th Floor)

We’ll fill you in on the background to the fight to save Coney Island, and help you get involved.

Want to get involved but can’t make the meeting?

E-mail us at Info@SaveConeyIsland.net and introduce yourself. Let us know if you have any special skills, connections or ideas that might be help us Save Coney Island!

The new website’s “Fix the Plan” page urges the city to expand the acreage allotted to outdoor amusements, keep high-rise towers out of Coney East, and provide safeguards against the displacement of small businesses and local entrepreneurs by chain operations.

Another page features comments on the city’s current plan from the New York Times editorial board, The Municipal Art Society, Dick Zigun of Coney Island USA, Charles Denson of the Coney Island History Project, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, among others.

The New York Times editorial board on the current plan: “This zoning proposal would allow a row of four hotels between the Stillwell Avenue subway stop and the outdoor entertainment area. The hotels could too easily become a wall, blocking public access to the sideshows and the rides, the boardwalk and the ocean. The hotels also squeeze the outdoor rides into a narrow strip of about 12 acres — an area that is simply too small to attract enough rides and attractions to bring back the big crowds.”

Save Coney Island’s redesigned website also features a discussion board, but the site is so new there aren’t any posts yet. Yours could be the first one!

Save Coney Island was founded by Lola Staar boutique owner Dianna Carlin in 2007 with a rally on the steps of City Hall and a MySpace page . Since then the grassroots group has grown to over 4,000 members and captured media attention with rallies at last May’s Opening of the Beach and New Year’s Day 2009 on the Beach and Boardwalk.