December | 2011 | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for December, 2011

COW-nival Fun but No Cow Pie Bingo at Chelsea Market

Posted in Animals, Events, Food, tagged Chelsea Market, Cow Pie Bingo, dairy farm, game, Ronnybrook on December 11, 2011| 2 Comments »

Half & Half at Ronnybrook Farm's COW-nival at Chelsea Market, Dec. 10, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Banneresque paintings of a two-headed cow and a weight-lifting cow grabbed our attention as we passed by Chelsea Market’s 10th Avenue entrance on Saturday. “COW-nival…Meet the Cows…Learn about Farming…Color the Giant Cow…Cow Pie Bingo and Cornhole.” The fun and games for kids are sponsored by Ronnybrook Farm Dairy, which sells the yummiest chocolate milk, and Edible Manhattan. At the free event, which continues through Sunday, we met and petted two darling calves–Miss Chelsea, a three-week-old Holstein, and Poppy, a two-and-a-half-month old Jersey. The calves were being minded by a young girl whose family founded Ronnybrook 70 years ago. The scene reminded us of a 4-H Club exhibit at a country fair, but we didn’t see anybody playing bingo.

Poppy and Miss Chelsea at Ronnybrook's COW-nival at Chelsea Market, Dec. 10, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Then we learned what cow pie bingo actually is: One or more cows are let loose in a fenced-off area, which has been marked off with numbered squares. Onlookers place bets and the winner is determined by where the cow plops her “pie.” The girl minding Poppy explained that the Ronnybrook calves were too young to play Cow Pie Bingo since they poo only once or twice a day. Cows do it countless times a day, she said. Of course, this greatly increases the odds that the game will have a winner sooner rather than later. Cow Pie Bingo is a popular fundraiser across the country, though probably not coming anytime soon to New York City. Here’s how they play the game at the Carbon County Fair in Rawlins, Wyoming…

Paul’s Daughter Signs 8-Year Lease for Coney Island Boardwalk

Posted in Food, Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged Boardwalk, Central Amusement International, Coney Island, Gregory & Paul's, Paul's Daughter, restaurant, Tina Georgoulakos on December 9, 2011| 12 Comments »

1959: Paul's wife and daughter visit him on the Bowery. Photo © Tina Georgoulakos via Paul's Daughter Facebook

We’re thrilled to report that this afternoon, Tina Georgoulakos of Paul’s Daughter, formerly known as Gregory & Paul’s, signed an 8-year lease for her family’s restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk. “I’m happy because the Burger statues wanted to stay where they belonged,” she told ATZ wryly. “Now they will get a new sign.”

In October, Papa Burger, a fiberglass figure on the restaurant’s roof, sported a sign that said “Looking for a New Beach.” The 49-year old Mom-and-Pop had been evicted along with seven others by Zamperla, which runs Luna Park. In a surprising about-face, the amusement operator invited two of the businesses–Paul’s Daughter and Ruby’s Bar–to stay and negotiations have been going on for weeks.

Both Papa and Mama Burger and a mix of new and old hand-painted signage as well as a neon sign are expected to be part of the new Paul’s Daughter when it reopens in April 2012. Tina’s father, 82-year-old Paul “The Chief” Georgoulakos, the oldest operator on the Coney Island Boardwalk, will be back too. It appears that our habit of taking photos of “The Last French Fry” as a good luck charm worked two years in a row!

UPDATE December 12, 2011…Zamperla’s Boardwalk line-up for 2012 is now set. As we noted in the comments, Ruby’s Bar signed an 8-year lease, as did another Boardwalk veteran, the Lola Star Boutique. Tom’s of Prospect Heights will open a second restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk, at the corner of Stillwell where Nathan’s and Cha Cha’s were located. See “Coney Island 2012: What’s New on the Boardwalk” (ATZ, November 15, 2011) for details and renderings of the new stores, including Nathan’s, Brooklyn Beach Shop, Ruby’s and Paul’s Daughter, as well as the new Sky Coaster and other rides.

Lola Star Boutique Signs 8-Year Lease for Coney Island Boardwalk

Posted in News, Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged Boardwalk, Coney Island, fashion, local, Lola Star, shopping on December 9, 2011| 2 Comments »

Dianna Carlin aka Lola Star with Shimmer in Lola Star Boutique, Coney Island Boardwalk, April 2, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Congratulations to Dianna Carlin, the first of the Boardwalk veterans to announce that she has a done deal with Zamperla’s Central Amusements International, which holds the lease on the City-owned property. Last night, the owner of the Lola Star Boutique on Coney Island’s Boardwalk tweeted, “So, I have some really incredible news…after much negotiating…Tonight I signed my lease to rent my boardwalk shop for the next 8 years!!” The boutique was one of only two Boardwalk businesses invited back by CAI last November, but lease negotiations went on for months.

Carlin is an entrepreneurial spirit whose successful projects include the Dreamland Roller Rink, a shop in Stillwell Terminal, a pop-up shop in SoHo and the new Star Pet Boutique. This afternoon, she announced a “2 TEES FOR $30 SALE” at her Boardwalk Shop this weekend “in celebration of the fact that we will be radiating our hot pink aura of fabulousness in Coney for the next 8 years!” The shop will be open Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon-5pm.

Hopefully more good news is on the way today or in the next few days. Will Boardwalk favorites Ruby’s Bar and Paul’s Daughter sign the leases which they were offered after a Miami restaurateur and Sodexo retreated from deals to take over their spaces? Negotiations have been going on since October over various clauses in the leases, leading to intense speculation about whether or not the beloved Mom and Pops will be back. As one of Ruby’s Facebook fans put it: “Arrgh! The suspense is killing me!”

UPDATE December 12, 2011…Zamperla’s Boardwalk line-up for 2012 is now set. As we posted on Friday, Paul’s Daughter signed an 8-year lease, as did Ruby’s Bar. Tom’s of Prospect Heights will open a second restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk, at the corner of Stillwell where Nathan’s and Cha Cha’s were located. See “Coney Island 2012: What’s New on the Boardwalk” (ATZ, November 15, 2011) for details and renderings of the new stores, including Nathan’s, Ruby’s, Paul’s Daughter and Lola Star as well as the new Sky Coaster and other rides.