February | 2013 | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for February, 2013

Photo Album: Post-Sandy MERCY Graffiti in Coney Island

Posted in Photo Album, Photography, tagged Bruce Handy, Coney Island, graffiiti, Hurricane Sandy, MERCY, street art, Superstorm Sandy on February 16, 2013| 16 Comments »

MERCY. February 9, 2012, Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

After Sandy, we began noticing the word “MERCY” stenciled on lamp posts and empty signboards in Coney Island. It felt like a call for compassion from a neighborhood devastated by the storm. During last week’s snowstorm, Coney Island photographer Bruce Handy came across three of these graffiti messages. The one above was on a white wall at Paul’s Daughter on the Boardwalk.

POƧT –ИO–MERCY February 7, 2012, Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

On Stillwell Avenue, the “Post No Bills” message on the plywood covering Thor Equities vacant new building was replaced by graffiti saying “POƧT — ИO — MERCY.” Person(s) unknown also pasted MERCY bumper stickers on poles in the amusement area. Have you seen any others? Scroll down for readers’ comments and theories about the graffiti and additional photos. Bruce Handy’s flickr set can be viewed here.

MERCY. February 10, 2012, Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

Williams Candy Moves Next Door During Post-Sandy Renovation

Posted in amusement park, Food, News, tagged Coney Island, renovation, Sandy, Williams Candy on February 15, 2013| 2 Comments »

Vernacular Signage for Williams Candy, Coney Island. December 6, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

Williams Candy on Surf Avenue next to Nathan’s was one of the first Coney Island businesses to reopen after Sandy. The Mom-and-Pop candy shop owned by Peter Agrapides is open year-round and also has a mail order business. Winter hours are 11 am till 5 pm. When we went by on November 17th, they had cotton candy, candy apples and all of our favorite marshmallow-on-a-stick treats in the window. Try the one with the chocolate sprinkles!

But you’ll have to go next door to the dining room of Pete’s Clam Stop to find the candy treats. This week Williams Candy began a month-long, post-Sandy renovation. The interior was gutted and everything will be brand-new at 1318 Surf Avenue in time for Coney Island’s Opening Day, which is March 24th this year.

Photo of the Day: Lettering Saved from Demolished Arcade

Posted in Artifacts, Photo of the Day, Photography, tagged arcade, Charles Denson, Coney Island History Project, demolition, Playland, signage on February 14, 2013| 3 Comments »

Remaining Playland Letters Saved by the Coney Island History Project. February 14, 2013. Photo © Coney Island History Project

The demolition of Coney Island’s Playland Arcade got underway in October, but was interrupted by Sandy. The job was finished today. It’s gone!

Charles Denson of the Coney Island History Project managed to save the remaining letters on the facade– L, N and D– and several of the whimsical yet deteriorating murals. “Our previous efforts at preservation were hampered by trespassers, vandals, black mold, the untimely death of Playland’s caretaker, Andy Badalamenti, as well as Superstorm Sandy,” according to a photo album on the History Project’s Facebook page. The artifacts will be exhibited this season.

An arcade existed in the Playland building from the 1930s until 1981, operated by four sets of brothers over a fifty year period. In 1981 the arcade machines were auctioned and the business closed, leaving Playland vacant for the past thirty years.