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The Dancing Doll “Miss Coney Island” Speaks

Posted in Amusement Game, amusement park, Artifacts, tagged amusements, automaton, coin-operated, fall in love, Jones Walk, Miss Coney Island on April 27, 2012| 6 Comments »

Miss Coney Island with her dancing cats and her baby doll. West 12th Street. April 1, 2012. Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

After 14 years on Jones Walk, the windows featuring the life-size dancing doll “Miss Coney Island” and the miniature animated rides of “Coney Island Always” have moved to West 12th Street along with Skin the Wire and other whimsical games. Mechanical wonders like Chuckles the Clown and dancing cats can be found there as well. The location is just off the Boardwalk, under Deno’s Wonder Wheel and next to the Coney Island History Project.

“Miss Coney Island” spoke with ATZ–yes, she speaks via twitter!–about the big move and the marvelous makeover that has fans saying she looks 30 years younger. The shimmying mannequin received a complete re-do, including new wig, makeup, manicure, costume, jewelry and music. Her motto remains “Don’t Postpone Joy” and it’s still only “25 cents to fall in LOVE.”

Closeup of Miss Coney Island's Bejeweled Hand. March 23, 2012. Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

You’d never know it to look at Miss Coney but she is well over 30. We’re not one to give away a woman’s age, but anecdotal evidence suggests the dancing mannequin may be a contemporary of the venerable Grandma’s Predictions, the fortunetelling automaton in Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. Earlier in her career, “Miss Coney Island” was an Indian Princess automaton at a fairground exhibition, she revealed. “My best friend was ‘Little Egypt.’ After the fair closed, everyone and everything was put up for auction. And here I am.”

The post-modern “Miss Coney Island” is a visual jukebox. This season there’s an emphasis on Doo Wop and Reggae music at Miss Coney’s request. “Most of the songs are oldies that were ‘newies’ when I was young,” she said wistfully. There’s “Little Darlin'” by the Diamonds, “Come Go with Me” by the Del-Vikings and of course “Under the Boardwalk” by the Drifters.” The song in the video that we made is “This Magic Moment.” While we were there a group of twenty-somethings came over and and started dancing. They kept putting quarters in the machine. Apparently they’d never heard music from the 1950s and ’60s and were enchanted. “What is this music,” they asked. “Where can we buy it?”

The usually silent Miss Coney decided to speak up after a New York tabloid recently dissed Jones Walk as “a longtime seedy strip” and claimed that the City cleared everyone out because it “had been filled with rigged carnival games and ripped off beachgoers for years.” She was furious. “In 14 years on the Walk, nobody but nobody has ever accused me or my friends of being seedy! Win or lose, people left with a smile on their faces,” Miss Coney said.

ATZ can vouch for Miss Coney’s veracity. Having worked games of skill on the Walk, it pained us to see the reputations of all of the concession operators tarnished so casually. There was ONE bad apple among the tenants in the City-owned booths. The majority of the operators were legit and were therefore able to relocate to City-owned or private property in Coney Island.

Miss Coney Island Meets A Little Miss Coney Island. April 8, 2012. Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

“It costs ’25 cents to fall in LOVE’ and ’25 cents to smile,’ but quarters don’t pay the rent in Coney Island,” according to Miss Coney, who depends on income from Skin the Wire and other $2 games of skill to fund her retirement. Three of the games made the move to 12th Street, but two money-making water games had to be left behind in the dumpster. “We just couldn’t fit them into our new space,” she added sadly.

Be that as it may, Miss Coney Island says “I’m sooo happy with my new location. More people walk by than on the Walk.” Earlier this month, singing sensation Rita Ora, who was in Coney to shoot her new music video, stopped by to pose in front of the windows. “Fingers crossed I’m in the video too,” said the dancing doll, who asked us to mention that she and “Coney Island Always” are available for film and TV shoots. “What I’d really love is a cameo on “30 Rock” and a mention on David Letterman’s Top 10 List.”

Coney Island Always, West 12th Street. April 8, 2012. Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

Rides Return to Thor’s Stillwell Lots for 1st Time Since 2008

Posted in amusement park, Amusement ride, tagged BK Festival, Coney Island, flat rides, Thor Equities on April 19, 2012| 3 Comments »

BK Festival: Himalaya and Sunglasses Vendor. April 8, 2012. Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

The Himalaya in the above photo may look like an ordinary Himi, but it marks the return of the native. For the first time since July 2008, there are rides on Thor Equities’ Stillwell Avenue lots, where amusements existed for more than 100 years until Joe Sitt bought the property and booted longtime ride and game operators in 2006. The Thor-owned Stillwell sites were used for a carnival in 2008, a flea market in 2009 and 2011, and remained vacant in 2010.

On Easter Sunday, we snapped these photos of the Himalaya, Scrambler, Fun House and three other carnival rides set up on Stillwell West behind Nathan’s. The rides were not yet open for business, though merchandise vendors, food concessions and a pony ride and petting zoo managed to open for Easter. All of the rides except the Giant Slide opened for business last weekend, but were torn down on Monday and are being set up again on the east side of Stillwell Avenue, reportedly due to permitting regulations.

Thor’s lots on both sides of Stillwell are leased to the BK Festival for a second season. As ATZ reported previously, Will McCarthy, event director of the BK Festival, said last year’s flea market didn’t mesh with the Coney Island location and this season the festival will bring in rides, games and amusements in addition to a smaller number of vendors. When the full complement of rides and attractions debut on Memorial Day Weekend, the BK Festival will be renamed Steeplechase Amusement Park. With the newly arrived rides, Coney’s ride count is over 65 and is likely to be over 70 by Memorial Day Weekend.

BK Festival: Scrambler, Fun House and Bounce, Stillwell Ave West. April 8, 2012. Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

Yes, it’s been four long years since Joe Sitt has had amusements on the hallowed ground at Stillwell Avenue and the Bowery, where the Tornado Roller coaster (1927-1977) and the Bobsled (1941-1974) amused the zillion. On Memorial Day Weekend 2008, Joe Sitt proclaimed “The Summer of Hope” and filled the reviled empty lots on Stillwell with carnival rides from Reithoffer Shows and Geren Rides for a limited run. Hope died when the rides left in mid-July.

In October 2006, eight tenants, including Norman Kaufman’s Batting Range and Go Kart City, Eddie Miranda’s Zipper and Spider rides on 12th Street, and game operators in the Henderson Building received notice from new property owner Thor Equities to be out by the end of the year. Thor’s spokesman told the Daily News: “The effort to transform Coney Island and recapture its past glory involves the demolition of a number of existing structures. Therefore, to allow the new development to proceed in a timely manner, occupancy agreements with some of the tenants are not being renewed.” Timely? Ha! Coney Island redevelopment has turned out to be a long, dragged-out drama punctuated by NY Post headlines like “The Grinch Who Stole Coney Island” and “Coney Zoney Furor: Chicken King Clucks.”

As a critic of flea markets on land that historically has been used for amusements, we’re happy to see this new direction for the BK Festival and Thor Equities and wish them a successful season. The rides are expected to open this weekend.

UPDATE April 22, 2012:

Although the rides remain set up on the Stillwell Avenue East lot, they did not open for business on Saturday. Permits are in process for a “temporary fair.” According to Will McCarthy of the BK Festival all of the rides will open on Memorial Day Weekend when the Festival brings in additional rides and attractions and debuts as “Steeplechase Park.” In the meantime, the merchandise vendors, food stands and Coney Island Dancers will continue to operate on the Stillwell West lot.

BK Festival’s 1st Amusement Rides Arrive in Coney Island

Posted in amusement park, Amusement ride, tagged BK Festival, Coney Island, flat rides, Steeplechase Park, Thor Equities on April 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

First rides for BK Festival's amusement park have arrived in Coney Island. April 1, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Over the weekend, Coney Island’s amusement parks, which have a total of 60 rides including the landmark Cyclone and Wonder Wheel, celebrated opening day with fanfare. The Eldorado Bumper Cars–the 61st ride–are expected to open for one last season. Meanwhile, the first rides for the BK Festival’s new Steeplechase Amusement Park arrived and were parked on Thor Equities lot on the west side of Stillwell Avenue. ATZ snapped these photos yesterday afternoon.

BK Festival event director Will McCarthy tells ATZ that the first rides include a Himalaya, Scrambler, Bumper Cars, Giant Slide and Fun House. Castle Rock Amusements of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and NJ Party Works of South Amboy, New Jersey are the ride suppliers. The rides are projected to open for Easter on the BK Festival’s Stillwell lot behind Nathan’s. “This is a soft opening with the grand opening coming for Memorial Day Weekend,” McCarthy said.

The flea market vendors along with food stands and trailers are expected to continue on the east side of Thor’s Stillwell lots until the new Steeplechase Amusement Park’s full complement of rides and attractions debuts on Memorial Day Weekend.

Last month, McCarthy told ATZ the flea market didn’t mesh with the Coney Island location and this season the BK Festival will bring in rides and amusements in addition to a smaller number of vendors. As a critic of flea markets on land that historically has been used for amusements, we are thrilled with this new direction for the BK Festival and Thor Equities and wish them success. We’re looking forward to the return of popular flat rides like the Scrambler and the Trabant. With the newly arrived rides, Coney’s ride count is once again going up and is likely to be over 70 by Memorial Day Weekend.

The new park will be the third Steeplechase. In 1967, Norman Kaufman leased part of the Tilyou’s Steeplechase site from Fred Trump and called his park Steeplechase Park, according to Charles Denson’s Coney Island: Lost and Found. The Jumbo Jet, Cortina, Bumper Cars, Go Karts, Batting Cages and a Miniature Golf Course were among Kaufman’s attractions over the years. Kaufman’s Batting Range and Go Kart City was on this piece of land until he was evicted by Thor Equities in 2007.

UPDATE April 22, 2012:

The rides opened last weekend on Stillwell West and have since been moved to the Stillwell Avenue East lot, where permits are in process for a “temporary fair.” According to Will McCarthy of the BK Festival all of the rides will open on Memorial Day Weekend when the Festival brings in additional rides and attractions and debuts as “Steeplechase Park.” In the meantime, the merchandise vendors, food stands and Coney Island Dancers will continue to operate on the Stillwell West lot.