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A Rare Peek Inside Endangered Old Bank of Coney Island

Posted in Coney Island Redevelopment, historic preservation, tagged Bank of Coney Island, Brooklyn, endangered, historic preservation, New York City on October 9, 2009| 8 Comments »

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ATZ’s inside look at a rarely photographed Coney Island building begins at the entrance to the long vacant bank on West 12th Street across from Coney Island USA. The public hasn’t had access to the Bank of Coney Island building since the 1990s, when sideshow operator Bobby Reynolds moved into the defunct bank with his museum of curiosities.

Today the 1923 Classical Revival style Bank of Coney Island could be draped in black bunting and a rephrasing of Dante’s “Abandon hope all ye who enter….” Abandon hope of this historic building surviving in the upzoned Coney Island. The Bank of Coney has been sentenced to the circle of hell reserved for buildings considered unlikely to win landmark designation from the powers that be. Is it destined for demolition? Probably. The City of New York has rezoned the lot to accommodate one of the four high rise “hotels” placed on the south side of Surf Avenue by city planners. The Coney Island Rezoning Plan was passed by the City Council in July.

In recent years, the building has been among the historic structures kept empty and shuttered by Coney Island’s largest property owner Thor Equities.

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These photos were taken last year by a potential tenant who was interested in leasing and rehabbing the bank building to open a business for the 2009 season. Alas, Joe Sitt’s price to lease the property– $500,000– was too steep. Same story on the west side of Jones Walk, which remained shuttered and devoid of activity all summer. One tenant from last season was told the rent for his stand on the Walk had tripled from $8,000 to $24,000. ATZ was given these photos of the bank building months ago, but we made the decision not to post them until the season was over. Photos of vacant buildings and shuttered stores are bad for business because they tend to reinforce the public misperception that all of Coney Island is closed. Coney Island is open and not only that, it’s open year round!

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Delving into the history of the Bank of Coney Island, we found this description of the building in the city’s resource list: “The limestone-clad 3-story building has a double-height arched entrance flanked by pilasters, two double-height arched windows with keystones, a projecting cornice, and an attic story. The north façade is a nondescript party wall where there used to be an adjoining building. On the West 12th Street façade, the arched entrance and windows have been boarded up, as have the attic windows, and the façade details appear to have been removed from the southwest corner.”

William J. Ward (1867-1937), the founder of the Bank of Coney Island and its president for two decades, was inducted into the Coney Island Hall of Fame in 2008. “The Wards were early Coney pioneers, and the family, which still owns Jones Walk, is the last of the original landowners from the 1870s,” said Charles Denson of the Coney Island History Project at the Hall of Fame ceremony in August 2008. “William Ward was the proprietor of the block-long Ward’s Baths and Ward’s carousel, roller coaster, and kiddie park.” Ward was also the developer of the Half Moon Hotel and president of the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce.

The Ward family has since closed on the sale of their Coney Island property to the City. As for the Thor-owned Bank of Coney Island building, the Coney Island Rumor Mill is sayin’ Joe Sitt will sell all of his Coney property except Stillwell to the city after the election. If Mayor Mike gets re-elected. No matter who ends up owning the Bank of Coney, the best chance for its survival is the Municipal Art Society‘s recommendation that the city decrease the incentive to develop low rise buildings on lots where the FAR (floor to area ratio) has been increased. As MAS’s Lisa Kersavage testified at the City Planning Commission hearing in May: “The City should consider a follow up corrective action that would create a designated area eligible for the transfer of development rights from landmarks, comparable to the Grand Central Subdistrict. This catchment area (or subdistrict) should be a place appropriate for higher density development north of Surf Avenue.”

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“The Bank of Coney Island building ceased being a bank circa 1990 and Bobby Reynolds moved there in 1992,” recalls Dick Zigun, whose Sideshows by the Seashore moved to West 12th Street from the Boardwalk in 1996. That summer the tabloids had fun writing about duelling sideshows on opposite sides of the street. After Reynolds and his two headed babies went back to California, the building fell vacant and was plundered. “The owner, Mike Weiss, had a salvage company come in and rip out each and every door and each and every fixture,” says Zigun. “The vandals broke in and stole the copper wiring and plumbing. The salvage company built a big pile of garbage in a corner and eventually it caught fire. There is smoke damage, water damage, etc. but the building is structurally sound.”

Coney Island USA received a grant from the JM Kaplan Fund in 2004 to “protect the legacy of old Coney Island.” Says Zigun: “Our grant from the Kaplan Fund to hire an architectural historian and do proper nominations for landmarks was only enough money to pay for five buildings and we stretched it to six. The six nominations was an arbitrary list based on finances not architectural merit. The bank was #7 on our list so it was not nominated which does not mean it is not worth saving. It would be a natural for a nightclub or music or theatre venue.”

The Municipal Art Society had the bank building on their list of seven to save in Coney Island when MAS testified at City Planning in May 2009. Among the other structures identified by CIUSA, MAS and Save Coney Island are Nathan’s Famous, Henderson’s Music Hall, Shore Hotel, Childs Restaurant (CIUSA Building), the Grashorn Building, and the Shore Theater. “Under the NYC Landmarks Law, structures can be designated as landmarks for architectural, historical and cultural reasons,” said MAS’s Lisa Kersavage. “Although some of these structures have been altered over the years, their ties to the legendary Coney Island of the past gives them a cultural significance that should be recognized and protected.”

According to Zigun, discussions with Landmarks suggests that they probably will landmark the Coney Island USA building and the Shore Theater. “They are still discussing Nathan’s so there is still room for hope,” he says.

UPDATE August 14, 2010:

We’re sorry to report the demolition permit for the bank building was issued yesterday– Friday the 13th. It was no surprise because on Wednesday the sidewalks around the Thor-owned building were being dug up to disconnect sewer and water lines in preparation. How inexpressibly sad to see the potential here and what will be gone forever in a matter of days. Don’t bother calling the DOB to complain either. It’s final! According to the permit: “This job is not subject to the Department’s Development Challenge Process. For any issues, please contact the relevant borough office.” Yeah we have an issue. A piece of Coney Island’s history is being sacrificed to the mighty Thor. Joe Sitt will soon have another empty lot to add to his collection of empty lots.

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Coney Island-O-Rama: John Strong Packs Up, Geren’s Rides “Sitt” It Out

Posted in amusement park, Coney Island Redevelopment, tagged banner, Coney Island, Dreamland, John Strong, sideshow, Thor Equities on August 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Giantess Banner Painted for John Strong's Sideshow in Dreamland Park, Coney Island. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The $600,000 question is why did an allegedly savvy businessman like Thor CEO Joe Sitt let more than half a million in allegedly overdue rent go unpaid until just two weeks before the end of the season? ATZ bets there’s more to this story than we’ve read in the papers.

On Sunday night the word from the locked down Dreamland was John Strong had torn down and packed up his “Strangest Show on Earth” and would be leaving Coney Island on ~~Monday~~ Tuesday evening for a Tennessee fair. Though the sideshow operator failed to “Save Coney Island” as boasted, we’ll forgive him because the front of his Strange Girls show was gorgeous in a retro sort of way. The bannerline evoked an earlier Dreamland Circus Side Show’s circa 1926 banners by Coney Island’s Millard & Bulsterbaum. Strong’s banners were painted by Jorge Rivero and Coney Island’s Takeshi Yamada, who also operated a freak baby show featuring his fantastical creations.

Over the weekend Dreamland Park was abruptly locked down by Thor Equities because of a rent dispute with the park’s manager. At 2 a.m on Friday morning, guards from Epic Security stormed in, cut the locks on the gates and took control of the property. In the morning Thor’s pr guy Stefan Friedman notified the media: “Dreamland has been locked out because it has not come close to meeting its financial obligations in many months. We are hopeful that Dreamland will soon pay its rent so it can quickly re-open the rides and allow Coney Islanders and visitors to continue enjoying what has been a spectacular summer so far.”

Night Shot of Banner Painted by Jorge Rivero and Takeshi Yamada for John Strong's Strange Girls Show. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The Coney Island Rumor Mill offers the following scenario: Perhaps no one owes Thor $600,000. Perhaps it’s a ruse to enable Thor CEO Joe Sitt to get rid of his carnival tenants asap and deliver the property vacant to the City. If that story sounds crazy, it’s no crazier than the scenario offered by Thor’s spokesman. A deal to sell most of the land including the Dreamland site to the City was expected when the Coney rezoning passed in City Council at the end of the July. At the time the NY Times said that Sitt would keep only the property at Surf & Stillwell. This land was rezoned for a high rise hotel. But that news is already three weeks old and no announcements have been made yet. Mayor Mike is running for re-election and time is running out for him to be able to claim he “Saved Coney Island” and win our vote!

Is the Coney Island dream over for the amusement operators who came from Georgia, Florida and Texas to Thor Equities Dreamland Park? Over the weekend rumor had it the carnival equipment was being held hostage by Thor Equities, but we’ve also heard folks are free to leave. While John Strong was spreading the word about a “breakout attempt” with monster trucks crashing through the gate, Glen Geren and some of the other amusement operators said they’d be sticking around. They’d paid their rent to Dreamland’s manager and were waiting to see if the park would reopen after today’s scheduled court hearing.

UPDATE 8/25: No “official” word yet about what happened in court. I’m kind of surprised the NY Post didn’t cover it! The Coney Island Rumor Mill says the judge is expected to make a decision on Wednesday. But the folks inside Dreamland say that they were told the park will reopen. With all the twists and turns we’ve been through in Coney, I find it hard to believe anything until I see it with my own eyes.

John Strong already packed up and tore down his sideshows and is set to leave tonight for Tennessee. Anthony sent someone over yesterday to beg them to stop working and put the show back in the building, but John Strong had already made the decision to load up and go. If and when Dreamland reopens, it will be minus two sideshows.

UPDATE 8/28 When I talked with Geren yesterday he said they have one more shot with the NY Supreme court today. Everyone is waiting till then to start tearing down. But there was a lot of hoopla on Thursday because Thor’s people said to clear out by midnight tonight! What they meant was people who were not ride help. Whatever happens next, remember there’s a lot more to this story than what we’ll read in the papers in the coming days.

Yes, ATZ has photos of “Closed” signs hanging on Dreamland’s gate, but we’d rather end this post with a photo of our friend Takeshi Yamada whose studio is in Coney Island. And a very important reminder: While Thor Equities “Dreamland Park” is currently closed, Coney Island still has 43 rides including the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel open for business. There’s also the Ringling Bros. Boom A Ring Circus, Coney Island USA‘s Circus Sideshow and Burlesque, Dreamland Roller Rink, the Coney Island History Project and much more to enjoy.

Artist and Coney Island Resident Takeshi Yamada Created a Mermaid Baby and other Freak Babies for his Sideshow in Dreamland. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Coney Island is Open, Only Dreamland is Closed

Posted in amusement park, Coney Island, Coney Island Redevelopment, tagged closed, Coney Island, Dreamland, Thor Equities on August 21, 2009| 6 Comments »

Get on the Bus: Coney Island. Really Fun, Really Open. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Today NY1, News12 and the Brooklyn Paper were in Coney Island covering the lockdown of Dreamland amusement area by property owner Thor Equities because of a rent dispute. More terrible publicity for Coney courtesy of Thor. People will hear part of this story and think because “Dreamland” is closed all of Coney Island is shutdown and it’s not worth going.

Coney Island is open. Only Dreamland, the temporary fair on the former Astroland site, is closed. Big deal. Dreamland never lived up to Joe Sitt’s promise of 25 rides. It had 12 rides and several sideshows including the “Giant Rat” (a capybara) and Headless Woman. If you missed seeing these shows, please visit the photosharing site flickr where you can look at pix of the banners for free. You will have saved yourself a dollar.

I’m sorry Dreamland was abruptly closed by Thor Equities. I suspect this is all about Thor CEO Joe Sitt telling the Mayor, hey I upped the ante on the rent because amusements don’t make money. Last we heard, Sitt was squeezing the City for $165 million to buy him out. He may also be pressuring for concessions such as tax breaks and a hardship variance to build time shares in his Coney Island sandbox, oops I mean his property. It’s been three weeks since the City Council approved the rezoning of Coney without sealing the deal to buy Thor Equities property.

But there’s still plenty for visitors to enjoy in Coney Island. I work in Coney and have actually kept a ride count all summer long. Without Thor Equities Dreamland, CONEY ISLAND STILL HAS 43 –that’s FORTY THREE RIDES. In addition to the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel, there’s Deno’s Park with 21 rides, McCullough’s Kiddie Park with a dozen rides, the fabulous Eldorado Bumper Cars & Arcade, Polar Express and more.

Also in today’s headlines was the closing of Coney Island’s beach as well as other City beaches for the weekend due to the approach of Hurricane Bill.

Rain or shine, people can enjoy Ringling’s Coney Island Boom A Ring Circus, the Coney Island USA sideshow, Burlesque at the Beach, the Coney Island Museum, the Coney Island History Project, the New York Aquarium, Lola Staar’s Dreamland Roller Rink (not associated with “Dreamland Park”), Ruby’s Bar, Cha Cha’s and Coney Island Arcade.

Don’t be taken in by Thor Equities attempt to kill amusements in Coney Island by closing down his temporary fair three weeks ahead of schedule. Support amusements in Coney Island by coming out and patronizing longtime operators and entrepreneurs.

SEPT 5, 2009 UPDATE Dreamland was allowed to reopen for Labor Day Weekend after City Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr. interceded. Operating rides include Geren Rides Ring of Fire, Reverchon Himalaya, Trabant, Scrambler and five kiddie rides. There are also two arcades, games and food stands. The park has about half as many attractions as when it closed since John Strong’s sideshows left and Butler Amusements rides were dismantled. The entrance to the park is on Surf Avenue. A few games and stands have been set up at the Boardwalk gate.