January | 2013 | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for January, 2013

Evicted Coney Island Cat & Cohorts Get One Month Reprieve

Posted in News, Photo of the Day, Photography, Real Estate, tagged cat, Coney Island Arcade, eviction, Manny Cohen, Target the Cat, tourist on January 16, 2013| 4 Comments »

Japanese Tourists Line Up to Photograph Target the Coney Island Cat. Photo © Coney Island Arcade

Nathan’s Famous is still closed post-Sandy and Coney Island’s rides don’t open till Palm Sunday but this group of Japanese tourists was undaunted. They lined up in front of the Balloon Dart on the Bowery to photograph Target the world-famous Coney Island Cat. On Tuesday, the cat’s human, Manny Cohen of Coney Island Arcade, along with neighboring game and food operators, appeared in court to respond to eviction notices from their landlord. The good news is everybody including Target is getting a one-month reprieve. The judge postponed the case till February. Let’s hope the reprieve stretches into the season.

Manny Cohen and Target the Coney Island Cat. Photo © Coney Island Arcade

Landlord Evicting Famous Coney Island Cat and His Humans

Posted in Animals, Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged balloon dart, Bowery, cat, Coney Island, eviction, Target the Cat on January 14, 2013| 8 Comments »

Target the Cat & Jimmy Balloons Calling in Customers. April 5, 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

When we started working in Coney Island, Target the Cat was already sitting on the counter of Jimmy’s Balloon Dart on the Bowery calling the people in to play. Some girls can’t walk by without stopping to pet him and ask his name. Next thing you know they’re busting balloons and winning prizes. The gregarious cat is world-famous thanks to having posed for many photographs including one that appeared in the New York Times.

Now the six-year-old cat, who has born and raised in Coney Island’s amusement area, is about to be evicted along with his humans, who own and operate games at 1105 Bowery. Eviction notices were served on four concessionaires who run games and a food stand at 1105 Bowery. All are set to be in court on Tuesday, though it’s doubtful the cat will show up.

Target the Coney Island Cat at work. May 14, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Rumors of the evictions have been the talk of the Coney Island Rumor Mill for weeks. Whatever story you hear or read, there’s more to it than meets the eye.

The building is owned by Shore Leave LLC and Rabbit Beach LLC and Cyclone Holdings LLC and 3019 W 12TH St LLC. Property owner Jeff Persily did not reply to ATZ’s request for comment on the evictions.

Will the judge decide the tenants can stay for another season? The east side of the Bowery just won’t be the same without Target the Cat patrolling the area. This part of the Bowery is his territory. Just to be clear, although Target and his kitty companion Pretty are losing the only home they’ve ever known, they’re not up for adoption. The cats are the beloved pets of Manny Cohen, the owner of Coney Island Arcade, who has been a tenant here for 22 years.

On the Bowery with Target the Coney Island Cat, March 23, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Target and his late sister Targeretty were born at Spook-A-Rama in Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. When a worker heard mewing and went to investigate, he found the motherless kittens. They were kept warm with a portable heater and fed with a dropper. Two weeks later, Manny Cohen adopted them and raised them at the arcade.

In May of 2010, a terrible fire destroyed the arcade on a day that workers sent by the landlord tarred the roof. Target escaped when the firemen battling the blaze cut the gates but his shy sister Targeretty died in the fire. The firemen found her in the office where she felt safe and had probably died from smoke inhalation. For weeks, Target kept searching for her in the ruins of the building and crying.

The arcade was never rebuilt and the site remains an empty lot at the corner of West 12th Street and the Bowery. The building at 1105 Bowery is adjacent to the lot and extends to Jones Walk.

Target the Coney Island Cat. February 11, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Up for Auction: Antique Arcade Games and Gambling Wheels

Posted in Artifacts, Auction, tagged antique, Chester-Pollard, coin-op game, gambling wheel, H.C. Evans, Horse Race Wheel, Play Football on January 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

1 Cent ‘Smiley’ Clown Skill Game. Victorian Casino Antique Auction, January 19-20, 2013

A plethora of vintage arcade games, slot machines and gambling paraphernalia will be on the auction block next weekend at Victorian Casino Antiques in Las Vegas. Online bidding is also available for the January 19-20 sale. Here are a trio of items that caught our fancy.

“Smiley” the Clown, the first post-World War II arcade game from Chicago’s Pioneer Coin Machine Company, has strong graphic appeal. In addition, it takes a lot of skill to win. Introduced in 1946, the game requires players to maneuver the ball through a circular maze.

5 cent ‘Play Football’ Arcade Game, circa 1924. Victorian Casino Antique Auction, January 19-20, 2013

“Be a Champion. Learn ‘the Kicks’ in Football!” The Chester-Pollard Amusement Company’s 1924 “Play Football” was a popular and fun nickel arcade game for two players. The idea was to score a goal for your team by pushing the handle to make one of the little soccer players kick the steel ball.

Among the gambling equipment in the sale is this H.C. Evans Horse Race Wheel complete with odds changer. Chicago’s H.C. Evans and Company was the country’s leading manufacturer of carnival and casino equipment for six decades. Its top of the line wheels include the Big Six, the Jumbo Dice Wheel and the Horse Race Wheel. The wheel measures 60 inches in diameter and approximately 87 inches high.