October | 2010 | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for October, 2010

Rest in Peace: Scott Fitlin, Coney Island’s Eldorado Man

Posted in Amusement ride, In Memoriam, News, tagged Bumper Cars, Coney Island, disco palace, Eldorado, obituary, Scott Fitlin on October 13, 2010| 40 Comments »

Scott Fitlin at Coney Island's Eldorado. Photo © Charles Denson

Sorrowful news from Coney Island this morning: Our friend Scott Fitlin, who operated the Eldorado Bumper cars for his family, died on Monday in his apartment. Scott was the DJ extraordinaire of Surf Avenue’s legendary disco palace of bumper cars and a steadfast defender of the amusement zone. Coney Island will miss him more than we can say.

These never-before-published portraits of Scott Fitlin were taken by Coney Island historian Charles Denson, who photographed Scott at work in the Eldorado this summer.

Coney Island raconteur Stan Fox, whose family operated the Playland arcade, recalled saying that when Mike Saltzstein of the B & B Carousell died in 2001, the music died. “Today’s another day when the music died,” Fox said.

Scott Fitlin was proud of the Eldorado’s sound system. Last March, ATZ did a post celebrating the Eldorado, in which Scott related the history of the ride and the sound system. Here is an excerpt:

Eldorado was hand built by my grandfather Joseph Buxbaum, my Dad Sandy Fitlin, and my Uncle Peter Buxbaum, and a carpenter named Rafael. Opening date was March 21st 1973, admission was 50 cents and 25 cent re-rides.

The lighting is disco style from the Studio 54 era, and we are upgrading this year to newer LED technology effects.

Our sound is custom built, by us, and we have had professionals in from time to time, back in the old days it was Richard Long, famous for the sound at Studio 54 and The Paradise Garage. Our sound is extremely powerful yet very easy to listen to, it doesn’t hurt the ear. CRYSTAL CLEAR, lightning fast, and stunning transient response, the crack of the snare drum is scary. Our bass is tremendous, and I play dance music, the sound that has energy and life, and POSITIVITY!

Our Bumper cars are Italian made Soli cars. They look good, run fast, and bump good.

The Eldorado Arcade opened for the spring of `71, the bumper cars were constructed during the winter of `72, and grand opened March 21, 1973. The FIRST record played was Cisco Kid-War!

Over the summer, Scott sent us a note about the upgrade to the Eldorado’s sound system:

I was always devoutly into audio, and music. Once I have performed and completed this years sound system repairs and upgrades, once again, NOTHING sounds like The Eldorado.

If you really begin searching the web using my name, you will find that I am one of the foremost authorities on the RLA [Richard Long] sound, and dance club style sound.

I have been working the 1216 Surf Ave Eldorado like it is a nightclub, for years. The only difference between my place and a club, is that in a club you dance on the floor, in my place you drive electric cars around the floor. Essentially, I run a disco on wheels.

Services will be on Friday, October 15th, at 12 noon at the Boulevard Chapel in Hewlett, Long Island. Phone 516-295-3100. The Fitlin family has chartered a bus to take anyone who wishes to attend but does not have transportation. The bus is expected to leave from the Eldorado between 9 am and 10 am.

UPDATE October 22, 2010:

The Coney Island History Project has posted a very moving excerpt from an audio interview that Scott did with CIHP director Charles Denson
http://www.coneyislandhistory.org/news/?p=484

Coney Island Mermaid Haiku by Patricia Carragon

Posted in Reading & Writing, tagged Barry Yanowitz, Brownstone Poets, Coney Island, Fierce Grace Press, haiku, Mermaid Parade, Patricia Carragon, poetry on October 11, 2010| 5 Comments »

Today we’re taking a holiday break from news about Coney Island deconstruction and redevelopment to shine the spotlight on a new literary endeavor. Urban Haiku and More by Patricia Carragon, host of the Brooklyn-based Brownstone Poets, was just published by Fierce Grace Press. The poet is a member of Brevitas, a group dedicated to short poems, including haiku, senryu, hay(na)ku and other unrhymed tercet poetry.

The subject matter of Urban Haiku and More encompasses such everyday events as riding the New York City subway, thinking about one’s sex life, laughing and crying about being dateless, and –well we’re not sure this one is an everyday event—searching the Coney Island boardwalk for mermaids. The book is illustrated with Japanese-style watercolors of birds and flowers, but reading Carragon’s poems about Coney Island immediately brought to mind the rainy Mermaid Parade of 2009. Thanks to Barry Yanowitz for permission to use his evocative photos of the parade in this post.

weathermen predict
washout at Coney Island
mermaids drown in the storm

Coney Island Mermaid Parade 2009. Photo © Barry Yanowitz via flickr

Brooklyn mermaids
hiding under umbrellas
rain on their parade

Coney Island Mermaid Parade 2009. Photo © Barry Yanowitz via flickr

Coney Island storm
mermaids do breaststrokes
on boardwalk

Urban Haiku and More is available at BookCourt and upcoming book events:

Sunday, October 17 at 4 p.m. at The Bowery Poetry Club, – 308 Bowery, NYC 10012

Thursday, October 28 at 7 p.m. at Wyld Chyld Tattoo and Café – 1708 Sunrise Highway, Merrick, NY 11566

Tuesday, November 2 at 7 p.m. at the Perch Café – 365 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Urban Haiku and More
by Patricia Carragon
Illustrated by William L. Hays
saddle-stitched chapbook, 52pp, $7
Fierce Grace Press / 1515 Benton Blvd., #1727/ Pooler, GA 31322

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Is Lynn’s Trapeze Still Lynn’s? What about the B & B?

Posted in amusement park, Amusement ride, Redevelopment, tagged B & B Carousell, Coney Island, Luna Park, Lynn Kelly, Lynn's Trapeze, naming rights on October 11, 2010| 6 Comments »

Sign for Lynn's Trapeze at Luna Park. October 10, 2010. Photo © Eric Kowalsky

UPDATE… October 11, 9:20 am…Yes, Lynn’s Trapeze will remain Lynn Kelly’s even though she’s leaving Coney Island for Staten Island! We received word on Monday morning from Zamperla CEO Valerio Ferrari: “A customer broke the sign. It will be replaced once we decide to renew or not all safety signs.” The altered sign was the object of intense speculation over the weekend…

On Sunday, ATZ received a flurry of messages from the Coney Island Rumor Mill about the sign on Lynn’s Trapeze in Luna Park. Something had happened to it overnight: The name of the ride had been sawed off the top! Take a look at the photo of the Mermaid Parade Kiddie flume below, for an example of intact signage.

Lynn’s Trapeze is a Wave Swinger with a center pole graced with historic images of Coney Island. It was named after Lynn Kelly, the president of the Coney Island Development Corporation, when the park opened in May. Kelly oversaw the redevelopment of Coney Island and was fond of referring to Luna Park as her park. But last week she resigned to take the job of CEO with the Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island. Our sources wondered if Kelly lost the naming right to the ride when she left her job with the City?

ATZ contacted Luna Park CEO Valerio Ferrari to ask about the sign, but we haven’t heard back yet. We can only speculate that Luna Park is about to add a commemorative plaque thanking Lynn Kelly and the flying carousel is not about to be renamed for somebody we’ve never heard of.

Or should naming rights to Luna’s rides be put up for sale to generate revenue? After all, stadiums like Coney Island’s former Keyspan, now MCU Park, aren’t the only ones to sell naming rights. Westchester County- owned Rye Playland offers annual naming rights for the park’s Dragon Coaster and other rides. The new Luna Park is a partnership with the City of New York, which owns the land and receives annual rent plus a percentage of the gross; the arrangement represents a new model for government-owned amusement parks, which are a rarity.

This brings us to a related question on the minds of Coney Island Rumor Mill members. When the restored B & B Carousell is set up in the new Steeplechase Plaza next year, will it still be called the B & B Carousell? Or will naming rights be sold? The initials belonged to Bishoff and Brienstein, who owned and operated the carousel from the 1930’s through the early 1970s. The ride was sold to Jimmy McCullough, who sold it to the City of New York in 2005. Carousell with two “L’s” was the spelling favored by Coney Island ride designer and builder William F. Mangels.