Photo Album: Pieces of Coney Island Skyline in December

January 7, 2013 by Tricia

Coney Island Sunset with Scream Zone and Parachute Jump. December 6, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

While putting together “Amusing the Zillion’s Top 10 Coney Island News Stories of 2012,” we considered doing a fave unposted photos of 2012 feature but there were too many pix to choose from. If a photo isn’t or doesn’t become newsworthy, it often gets overlooked. Since there’s a post-holiday lull in the usual Coney Island Melodrama, here’s an album of quiet photos from early December. What these images have in common are pieces of the Coney Island skyline.

Coney Island Skyline, December 6, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

Hoax photos from Hurricane Sandy of the Parachute Jump snapped in two and real photos of a coaster underwater in Seaside Heights have visitors coming to ATZ to find out if Coney Island’s rides survived. The answer is yes! Coney Island’s rides will open for the 2013 season on March 24th, Palm Sunday, with a complimentary spin on the Wonder Wheel. Seen in the photo above from left to right: the Astro Tower, which is no longer an operating ride, but will be lit with LEDs; the Cyclone Roller Coaster; Deno’s Wonder Wheel, minus its cars, which are removed for the winter; and Scream Zone’s Steeplechase Coaster and Zenobio.

Brooms lined up post-Sandy inside Luna Park Coney Island. December 6, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

In November, Luna Park pitched in to help Coney Island recover from Hurricane Sandy by rewarding volunteers who signed up for four hours of clean-up with an unlimited ride, four-hour wristband to the park. “Over 300 people volunteered their time with Luna Park as part of a massive effort to rebuild Coney Island,” according to a post on the park’s Facebook page. “Luna volunteers cleared 4 parks and playgrounds, served 3 churches, cleaned 9 homes and 2 streets and helped clear the boardwalk by the amusement areas.”

Victim of Sandy. December 6, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

This surreal image of a discarded carnival prize in post-Sandy Coney Island was just too sad to post on the day that we snapped it. A big part of it was the game that it came from is owned by a friend. The storm-damaged plush bear and fellow prizes were photographed here and there in the amusement area before being carted away.

Even sadder was our last look at the last remaining ride sign in McCullough’s Kiddie Park, which had been torn down and was being trucked away. The Bumblebees, Kiddie Ferris Wheel and Himalaya are all gone. Today, there’s an empty lot where the kiddie park existed since the 1960s. As ATZ reported in September, the McCullough family operated amusements in Coney Island for four generations and are related to the Tilyous of Steeplechase Park. They closed the kiddie park, their last remaining business here, after being unable to come to an agreement on terms for a lease extension with property owner Thor Equities.

On the bright side, Pete’s Clam Stop and its old school signage on Surf Avenue at 15th Street is here to stay. Along with Williams Candy next door, it is owned by Peter Agrapides, who has worked in Coney Island for six decades.