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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.

Williams Candy on Surf Avenue in Coney Island. November 17, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita

Big Mark’s Action Park Set for Thor’s Stillwell Ave Lot

Posted in amusement park, News, tagged Big Mark's Action Park, Coney Island, Coney Island 2013, Memorial Day Weekend, new bar, Thor Equities, vendors, zipline on February 7, 2013| 2 Comments »

On Memorial Day Weekend 2013, the Stillwell Avenue lots owned by Thor Equities and leased to the BK Festival for the past two seasons will showcase a brand-new tenant. “Big Mark’s Action Park in Coney Island is a fresh new face to the indie, owner-operator theme park scene in NYC, featuring hands-on, high quality amusements,” says the intro on the new park’s twitter page.

Big Mark is Mark Zientek, owner of New Jersey Partyworks, a long-established amusement rental and special events production company. He’s also chairman of ROAR (Responsible Operators of Amusement Rentals) and a NAARSO (National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials) certified maintenance technician. ATZ first met Mark last season, when he was the operations manager of the amusement park brought to Stillwell by the BK Festival and John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia.

When we ran into Mark in December he told us about the new park and said he planned to bring in state fair quality rides. Mark’s right hand man in this new venture is NY Scoops entrepreneur Timmy Grins, who is on board with his marketing and promotional expertise as well as his Italian ices. Now the project is no longer under wraps since a Facebook page was launched in January with details of the park’s offerings. Among the extreme attractions currently being discussed for Coney Island’s “Action Park” are a rock climbing wall, hot air balloons, helicopter rides and skydiving training with a vertical wind tunnel.

Too crazy for Coney? Maybe not. Also mentioned is an Extreme Air Jumper, which simulates board sports and launches participants up to 25 feet in the air. Its manufacturer Extreme Engineering says the jumper system was awarded “Best New Product” in the entertainment industry two years in a row by IAAPA, the amusement industry trade association. As Mark told ATZ: “I’m not trying to compete with the rides at the other parks. I’m offering something different and unique.”

Last year, the BK Festival dressed up the area behind Nathan’s with multi-colored tents for vendors. The new park is also looking for vendors for pop-up shops: “If you are a crafter, a culinary genius of some sort, have a cool new product, or got something to sell and are interested in vendor space in Coney Island this Summer as part of BIG MARKS ACTION PARK, let us know! The spaces will fill FAST.”

Big Mark’s Action Park promises an outdoor bar called either Big Mark’s Mega Bar or Marko Grande’s Coney Cantina. It’s a mouthful, but Mark says you can call it Mega Bar or Coney Cantina for short and it will feature nightly entertainment. As more details about the park become available, we’ll post an update.

UPDATE October 17, 2013

If you would like to know why the park never opened, just read “The New Coney Island: Thor Equities Vacant Lots, Dummy Arcades” (ATZ, October 17, 2013). The lot first became vacant after Thor Equities acquired the land and evicted ride and park operators and remains vacant today despite a history of various amusement operators’ efforts to negotiate lease deals. The latest project that never happened was Big Mark’s Action Park, which planned to bring a rock climbing wall, a vertical wind tunnel and other extreme attractions to Thor’s Stillwell lots in 2013. It’s a similar story as ATZ’s previous post “The New Coney Island: A Tale of Two Jones Walks” contrasting the activated City-owned and vacant Thor-owned sides of the Walk.

UPDATE May 25, 2013

Thor Equities lot on Stillwell Avenue where Big Mark’s Action Park announced they would build their new park remains depressingly empty except for the abandoned MegaWhirl. In reply to our query about the park’s status, “Big Mark” replied, “We are experiencing some unforeseen headwinds, but, are very much on the push to get open as soon as possible. We believe our Action Park will be super complimentary and not competitive to the already wonderful mix of attractions in Coney Island.” On their Facebook page, there’s a cryptic allusion to being “mired in a Clash of the Titans and in a holding pattern.”

Winter’s First Snow in Coney Island by Bruce Handy

Posted in amusement park, Photo Album, Photography, tagged Boardwalk, Bruce Handy, Coney Island, Luna Park, snow, Wonder Wheel Park on January 26, 2013| 10 Comments »

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

It’s about time it snowed! In past years, ATZ has posted Bruce Handy’s first snow of the season photos in December and once in October during the weather event known as Snowtober. “I was on the beach near the water earlier about 5, when I felt the wind shift, all the seagulls took off, the snow front had arrived,” says the Coney Island resident and photographer, who took this series of photos on Friday night. His elongated shadow appears on the snowy boardwalk in the photo above.

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

On the roof of Paul’s Daughter, Papa Burger looks out at the sparkly boardwalk and the silent and motionless rides of Luna Park and Wonder Wheel Park. Luna Park’s colorful Balloon Expedition, seen below, looks like a sugar coated confection.

“The snowflakes were very light, very silvery, and it was not cold,” says Bruce Handy, who only saw one other person on his photowalk. “Timeless feeling when it snows, like a dream, you can imagine the rides running packed with people.”

The 12th Street side of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park is illuminated by vintage light fixtures made by amusement ride manufacturer William F. Mangels, whose factory was once on 8th Street in Coney Island. The park’s vintage kiddie fire engines and pony cart rides were made there.

“And as I’m walking, I’m having a future memory of how this spot will be in the future, the B&B Carousell music playing,” says Bruce Handy of this shot of the Parachute Jump and the new pavilion for the antique carousel, which will open this season. “When I’m in the falling snow, I lose all sense of time, could be years, could be seconds.”

Snowy midway in Wonder Wheel Park and wintry Cyclone! In just 56 days –March 24, 2013– the wheel will spin and the roller coaster will go for its first run of the season.