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Coney Island Flicks on the Beach Opens July 1 with Little Fugitive

Posted in Events, film, tagged Bending Steel, Coney ISland Flicks on the Beach, free event, Little Fugitive, Men In Black 3 on May 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Little Fugitive, the 1953 classic about a 7-year-old boy who spends 24 hours on the lam in Coney Island, returns to Coney on July 1st to open the 3rd Annual Coney Island Flicks on the Beach. This year is the 60th anniversary of the film, which won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and influenced the French New Wave. “My Dad used to say his veins were full of sand from Coney Island,” said Mary Engel of her film-maker father Morris Engel at a screening of the new 35MM print at Film Forum earlier this year.

Also screening at this year’s Flicks on the Beach are Bending Steel, a documentary which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, and Men in Black III starring Will Smith and Josh Brolin. Both movies feature scenes shot in Coney Island. Here is the complete schedule for this summer’s Coney Island Flicks on the Beach:

July 1: Little Fugitive, 60th Anniversary (rained out, rescheduled for August 27)
July 8: Bending Steel, in partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival
July 15: The Hunger Games
July 22: Wreck it Ralph (rained out, rescheduled for Sept 3)
July 29: Men in Black III
August 5: The Avengers
August 12: Fame
August 19: 42
August 27: Little Fugitive (rescheduled for a Tuesday night due to rain on July 1)
Sept. 3: Wreck It Ralph (rescheduled for a Tuesday night due to rain on July 22)

The Monday night beachside film series is a free event sponsored by the Alliance for Coney Island together with Rooftop Films and NYC & Co. Pre-show entertainment begins at dusk on the beach near West 10th Street.

Pre-show entertainment at Coney Island Flicks on the Beach. July 12, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Zamperla to Bring Venetian Carnevale, Da Vinci-Inspired Ride to Coney Island

Posted in Amusement ride, Events, tagged Bici Da Vinci, carnevale, Central Amusement International, Coney Island, June 28, Leonardo Da Vinci, Magic Bikes, Venetian carnival, Zamplerla on April 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Zamperla’s Magic Bike Ride inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci. Photo via Italy in US 2013

On June 28th, Venice comes to Coney Island when Luna Park operator CAI Parks stages a Venetian “carnevale” on the Boardwalk and in the new Steeplechase Plaza. A Zamperla-designed amusement ride inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s designs for flying machines is set to be part of the festivities along with Friday night fireworks. The event is part of “Italy in USA 2013,” a year-long showcase of Italian culture, including art, music, cinema, stage, design, fashion and food, organized by the Italian government “to promote Italy as a whole in both the cultural thematics and the economic features of the Italian Brand.” The series of events has the hashtag #2013italianyear on twitter.

“Antonio Zamperla S.p.A and Central Amusement International LLC (CAI) recreate the magical atmosphere of ‘Carnevale’ in Venice with masks, gondolieri, acrobats and street artists,” according to the calendar of events.

Rendering for Parachute Jump Lighting, Steeplechase Plaza. Photo via Italy in US 2013

“There will also be a virtual tour of Venice throughout various eras called the Venice Imago Project in collaboration with Università Ca’ Foscari of Venezia where spectators can see the city and its works of art created by famous artists like Bellini, Giorgione, Tiepolo. The Boardwalk on Coney Island will be reminiscent of the Venetian streets during Carnevale with face painting activities for the children and contests for best Venetian masks.”

The Magic Bikes amusement ride pictured in the event calendar is Zamperla’s “Bici Da Vinci,” which was originally designed for Leonardo Land at Minitalia Leolandia. The Italian park was formerly owned in part by Zamperla, which is based in nearby Vicenza. “We came up with the story that we have found a secret book by Leonardo Da Vinci in which he designed an amusement park for the prince,” said Alberto Zamperla in an interview with Park World in 2009. “That is how we themed some of the rides.” The program listing for the Coney Island event says the Magic Bikes will be placed near the entrance to Luna Park. The ride is said to reproduce the design and the operating method of Leonardo Da Vinci’s studies of the flight of birds and his sketches for flying machines.

The new Steeplechase Plaza, where Zamperla won the contract to operate the historic B&B Carousell and light the landmark Parachute Jump, is scheduled to open on Memorial Day Weekend. The June 28th Venetian Carnevale will be six days after Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade, which is on June 22, the first Saturday of summer.

UPDATE 2:45 pm

Whoops! It turns out the info posted on the Italian Foreign Ministry’s Italy in USA 2013 event page is not completely accurate! According to an email from Luna Park online coordinator Rob Blatt: “Some of the information about the Venice in Coney Island event is incorrect on the Italy in the USA site. The actual event that was supposed to be on June 28 was moved to a different date, and will now be a private event, not something public.” It’s too bad a Venetian Carnevale in the People’s Playground, which sounds like a fun addition to Coney’s schedule, went from being a public to a private event. If you get an invite, let us know! (Update May 24th: The mystery private event was apparently the Venetian Carnevale-themed, invitation-only party with masked dancers held at the B&B Carousell on its official opening day.) The good news is Leonardo’s Magic Bikes are still coming and will be one of the new rides in Luna Park along with Water-mania.

Bici Da Vinci at Minitalia Leolandia Park via Facebook

“Notorious BOB” and Larell Marie Win Nathan’s Hot Dog Qualifier

Posted in amusement park, Events, Food, tagged Bob Shoudt, competitive eating, Coney Island, George Shea, Larell Marie, Nathan's, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on March 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Bob Shoudt AKA Notorious BOB at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier, Coney Island. March 23, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

On Saturday in Coney Island, Nathan’s Famous celebrated the reopening of their Boardwalk eatery and Coney Island’s Opening Weekend with the first hot dog eating qualifying round of the season. The winners were Bob Shoudt AKA “Notorious B.O.B.,” who ate 36 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, and Larell Marie AKA The Real Deal, who ate 17. They will return to Coney to compete on July Fourth, when separate men’s and women’s hot dog eating contests are held in front of the original Nathan’s at Surf and Stillwell, which is being rebuilt after Sandy.

Compared to the hugely attended and tightly choreographed July 4th event televised on ESPN, the qualifier had a refreshingly impromptu air. A couple of “Bunettes,” the ladies who flip the cards indicating the number of franks consumed, had to be recruited from the audience, which consisted of a few hundred people. The event was the first-ever hot dog qualifier held in Coney Island, according to contest organizer and emcee extraordinaire George Shea.

Larell Marie AKA The Real Deal on her 3rd hot dog at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier, Coney Island. March 23, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

It was the first qualifier we’ve attended in more than a dozen years. In 2001, we followed Ed “Cookie” Jarvis, Don “Moses” Lerman and “Krazy” Kevin Lipsitz on the hot dog eating circuit, starting with the season’s first qualifier at the Meadowlands, on assignment for a travel magazine. It turned out to be the year that Kobayashi stunned everyone by eating 50 hot dogs and buns on the Fourth of July, doubling the record of the previous year. The article was called “Bet on the Thin Guy.”

After winning yesterday’s qualifier, Shoudt tweeted: “Since 7/4/07 only one man besides myself has won the Nathan’s hotdog eating contest at Coney Island, just sayin’,” He’s referring to current champ and record holder Joey Chestnut, who ate 68 hot dogs and buns in last year’s contest.

If you’re interested in competing in a Nathan’s Famous qualifier, visit Major League Eating to register. Contests are being held in 12 cities, including Savannah, Miami, Las Vegas, St. Paul, Pittsburgh and Boston, before heading back to the New York metro area for qualifiers in Queens and the Meadowlands.