Archive for February, 2010

Feb 9: First Step in Landmark Designation of Coney Island’s Shore Theater

Posted in historic preservation, tagged Brooklyn, Landmarks Preservation Commission, Loew's Coney Island, movie theater, New York City Landmark, Shore Theater on February 6, 2010| 1 Comment »

The Shore Theater, formerly the Loew's Coney Island, is up for City landmark designation. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The Shore Theater, formerly the Loews Coney Island. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Five years ago, the 1925 Shore Theater, formerly the Loew’s Coney Island, was nominated for New York City landmark designation by Coney Island USA. On Tuesday, February 9, at 9:35 a.m., the long vacant building owned by Horace Bullard is expected to be put on the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s calendar for a public hearing. This is the first step in the landmark designation process.

If you wish to attend Tuesday’s public meeting, don’t be late because the calendaring is expected to take a mere five minutes! The Shore is on the schedule from 9:35-9:40 a.m. Sources say the LPC staff will present a PowerPoint on the building’s history and then there might be a brief discussion among the commissioners. They are likely to vote to calendar the building.

The public hearing is typically scheduled one to six months after the calendaring. According to the Commission’s FAQs about the designation process, the public will get to have their say at the public hearing and may submit written statements at that time.

Much has been written about the Shore Theater in recent months. Vanishing New York’s photo essay on the theater’s history and probable future and “The Shore Theater: A Sure Part of Coney Island’s Future?” by the Municipal Art Society‘s Melissa Baldock are required reading.

Baldock says the Shore represents the optimism for the future of Coney Island at the dawn of the “Nickel Empire” and is one of Coney Island’s most striking buildings: “Its theater sat nearly 2,400 people, and above the theater were several stories of office space intended for the entertainment industry, which the developers hoped would flourish in Coney Island.”

We hope the building can be renovated and restored so that art and entertainment will again flourish in this once grand movie and vaudeville venue. Although the calendering does not list the building’s interior, we’re told the LPC may consider the interior at a later date.

The Shore Theater is also the first of six Coney Island buildings nominated for landmark designation by Coney Island USA. The others are Nathan’s Famous, Coney Island USA Building (former Childs Building), the Grashorn Building (Coney Island’s oldest), the Henderson Building, and the building that housed the B & B Carousell. Coney Island’s four designated City landmarks are the Cyclone Roller Coaster, the Wonder Wheel, the Parachute Jump and the Childs Building on the Boardwalk.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is located on the 9th Floor of the Municipal Building at the corner of Centre Street and Chambers Street, across from City Hall, in Manhattan. More information, including a link to a form to nominate a building for landmark status, is available on the LPC’s website.

UPDATE FEB. 9, 5:30 pm…The Municipal Art Society reports that this morning the LPC voted unanimously to calendar the exterior of the Shore Theater, including the rear portion of the building (shown in photo.) Says MAS, “The next step in the landmarking process will be a public hearing, which has not yet been scheduled. We encourage the public to voice their support for the designation of the entire Shore Theater building at this hearing or through sending letters and emails. The final designation steps will be the Commission’s vote, followed by a City Council vote.” Courier Life’s Joe Maniscalco reports that the public hearing date for the Shore theater designation has been set for March 23 and the calendaring of the Coney Island USA Building on February 16.

Thor’s Coney Island: Burst Water Pipes & Onerous Deal at Grashorn for Freak Museum

Posted in Real Estate, sideshow, tagged Coney Island, Grashorn Building, John Strong, Jones Walk, Surf Avenue, Thor Equities on February 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Burst Water Pipe in the Grashorn Building - The Oldest Building in Coney Island. February 4, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Yesterday a water pipe burst on the second floor of the Thor Equities-owned Grashorn Building, Coney Island’s oldest building. Water poured down the front of the vacant building, covering it in a sheet of ice and leaving an icy pile on the sidewalk by the end of day. We are of course worried that the leaking water may have done a significant amount of damage to the interior of the historic circa 1880s building. According to Coney Island: Lost and Found, the former Grashorn hardware store served Coney Island’s amusement businesses for more than 60 years. Will water damage plus onerous lease terms put the kibosh on John Strong’s deal to rent the building?

As first reported by ATZ on Monday, Texas-based sideshow operator John Strong came to New York and made a deal with Thor to rent the building at Surf Ave and Jones Walk for his freak and oddity museum. Sources told ATZ that when John Strong learned about the burst pipe, he phoned Thor Equities, which had already been notified of the problem. Strong also indicated that he might walk away from the deal because he had just received a copy of his lease from Thor and it contained a 30 day vacate clause. This clause means if Thor wants Strong out he’d have to leave within 30 days though he has offered to pay the entire season’s rent up front.

Can anyone explain the reason for a 30 day vacate clause on this seasonal lease? We’re told this clause was also in the leases that Thor gave to the Boardwalk businesses last year. Thor Equities onerous leases are infamous in Coney Island. But John Strong has a lot of work to do on both the interior and exterior of the vacant building to prepare it for his freak museum. The extra added attraction for Strong is the apartment on the upper floors of the Grashorn. Strong reportedly said he’d been told it would be up to him to get rid of the squatters and the garbage in the building!

Leak is from the second floor, dribbling down the front gates. Note Private security guard in Jones Walk. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

All we can say is if this is the way Thor Equities makes a deal with John Strong, who was instrumental in bringing rides and attractions to Sitt’s Dreamland last summer and has been one of Joe Sitt’s biggest boosters, newcomers beware. Oh yeah, that’s right: business is business. We hope that Thor Equities works out a more equitable lease agreement with John Strong so that the long vacant Grashorn Building will be “Alive!” and open for business this summer.

UPDATE 6:20 PM…ATZ has learned that Thor Equities had the water turned off in the Grashorn Building, salted the icy sidewalk and sent a locksmith to change all the locks. A security guard is now parked in front of the building keeping watch 24 hours a day. Our source speculates that instead of a burst water pipe, squatters who had been occupying the apartments on the upper floors turned all the faucets on and left the water running out of spite. If that’s the case, perhaps they got the idea from “the wet bandits” in the movie Home Alone. Their trademark was to leave the water running after they’d pulled a heist. Anyway, ATZ is glad Coney Island’s oldest building has its own personal security guard while we wait for it to be calendered by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. UPDATE FEB 6: A Little Publicity Doesn’t Hurt Dept: In response to ATZ’s email, John Strong writes: “As of today my concerns have been met and changed on the lease. I am moving forward coming to Coney Island.”

UPDATE April 29, 2010:

John Strong’s deal to rent the Grashorn is off! We’re sorry that rumors of Joe Sitt’s plans to demolish historic buildings which we reported in last week’s post “Thor’s Coney Island: Tattered Tents, Deathwatch for Historic Buildings” (ATZ, April 21, 2010) have turned out to be true. This is one time we would have preferred for the rumors to have remained just rumors.

Today, in response to a flurry of queries from reporters about Sitt’s still unleased empty lots and vacant properties, Thor Equities pr flack Knickerbocker SKD issued a press release announcing Sitt’s intention to begin demolishing the buildings and to replace them with other structures by May 2011. According to the release, “These structures will be replaced with more attractive, retail-friendly and up-to-code shops for the type of retailers Coney is famous for.” See “Thor’s Coney Island: Joey “Bulldozer” Sitt Is Baaack Playing Games!” (ATZ. April 29, 2010)

Translation: More Bull-Sitt from Thor Equities. More deliberately created empty lots.

Aerial view of Grashorn Building and 24 hour security guard. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Aerial view of Grashorn Building and its 24 hour security guard. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

New in 2010: Coney Island Fun Phone Addition to CI Fun Guide

Posted in News, Visitor Info, tagged Brooklyn, Coney Island Development Corporation, Coney Island Fun Guide, Coney Island Fun Phone, tourism marketing, Visitor hotline on February 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

For the 2010 season, the CIDC’s Coney Island Fun Guide team is launching a visitor hotline called the Coney Island Fun Phone. A template version of the Fun Phone has been up and running since October to get feedback from Coney Island amusement area stakeholders.

We jotted down the phone number at the stakeholders meeting where the idea was introduced. The project strikes us as very promising. Someone asked how the Fun Phone will be marketed. Well, here you go…

Dial 1-877-71-CONEY

The hotline’s official launch date has yet to be announced, but the number is already posted on the Coney Island Fun Guide’s Facebook Fan Page. We recommend saving the number in your cellphone right now. Coney Island’s official opening day is March 28th–just 53 days away!

The Coney Island Fun Phone’s main menu includes Upcoming Events, Directions & Parking, Rides & Attractions, Eating, Shopping, Voice Mail for Fun Phone Team and return to the main and sub menus. If you hit #3 for Rides & Attractions, you’ll get the menu for 6 different attractions including the Beach and Boardwalk, The Cyclones, Cyclone Roller Coaster, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, New York Aquarium, Ringling Circus, and submenu access to 10 more attractions.

The CIDC’s Daniel Mulé, who is the voice of the Coney Island Fun Phone Team, has recorded short and engaging descriptions of the attractions along with prices, hours and phone numbers. Here’s a sample….

Beach and Boardwalk

At the Coney Island beachfront you can find the perfect spot along two miles of sandy shoreline or enjoy a stroll along the legendary Riegelmann Boardwalk. The Beach and Boardwalk are free for all visitors and accessible year round. The beach is open for swimming from 10 am to 6 pm all summer from Memorial Day Weekend till Labor Day Weekend. For more information on beach rules and regulations contact the park manager at 718-946-1353.

The Fun Phone seems to be geared to people who are unable to access the web-based Coney Island Fun Guide. Perhaps they do not use a computer. Or they don’t have web access on their cellphones.

The restaurant listings and phone numbers came in handy when we were in Coney Island with friends who suddenly changed their plan about where to eat. The Fun Phone offers a wide range of dining choices. In addition to Nathan’s Famous and places on the Boardwalk, you’ll find out about Surf Ave sit-down bars and eateries like Peggy O’Neill’s, Ragazzi’s Pizza, Footprints Café, and Surf & Turf, and neighborhood mainstays like Gargiulo’s, Totonno’s and Coney Island Soup Shop. We bet there’s a restaurant on the Fun Phone that some regular visitors have not tried yet.

ATZ gives the Coney Island Fun Guide high marks. Before the Guide was launched last summer, there was no such thing as a comprehensive calendar of Coney events. Coney Island is not a single operator amusement park like Six Flags, but an amusement district made up of many individually owned and operated businesses. During the season, the Cyclone Roller Coaster, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, the Coney Island Sideshow and other attractions field hundreds of phone calls from potential visitors with general questions about Coney Island. This season they will be able to redirect some of the callers to the hotline.

Please note that the Fun Phone is still under development and hasn’t been updated for the 2010 season yet. “We will definitely get it live for the summer,” says Mulé. “No official launch date scheduled — pending some further comprehensive thinking about our marketing efforts for this year.”

The Coney Island Fun Guide also has an e-newsletter and a Facebook Fan Page that you can join now.