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Playing Santa at the Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge

Posted in Events, Photography, tagged Barry Yanowitz, Coney Island, fundraiser, holidays, New Year's Day, Polar Bear Club, Polar Bear Plunge, Santa on December 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Unwinding after a Busy Holiday...Coney Island Polar Bear Club New Year's Day Swim 2011. Photo © Barry Yanowitz

On New Year’s Day 2011, when Santa should have been back at the North Pole after a busy Christmas, photographer Barry Yanowitz spotted him at the Coney Island Polar Bear Swim! The annual event is zany fun as well as a fundraiser for a very good cause. You can play Santa on New Year’s Day 2012 by pledging a donation to this year’s plunge or helping participants meet their fundraising goals. The funds make it possible for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to enjoy a holiday at Camp Sunshine in Maine.

“Last year we raised over $50,000 for Camp Sunshine, and hope to exceed that this year,” Coney Island Polar Bear Club President Dennis Thomas told ATZ. “Approximately 1,200 swimmers registered last year. People can make donations on site on New Year’s Day or pledge at Freezin’ for a Reason.” (If you’re reading this after New Year’s Day, it’s not too late to mail a check.)

There’s no fee for observers or participants at the increasingly popular annual event, but the Coney Island Polar Bear Club encourages participants to make a donation to Camp Sunshine. They will receive a free breakfast, all-day admission to the New York Aquarium and the official “I Did It!” certificate. Swim time is at 1 pm sharp. Registration begins at 11 am on the Boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. Before and After Party at Ruby’s Bar from 11am till 2:30pm!

Holiday Album: Coney Island in the Bronx

Posted in Events, Photography, Travel, tagged Botanical Garden, Bronx, Coney Island, holidays, Luna Park, train show on December 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Every Christmas, exquisite models of long-vanished Coney Island landmarks are part of a holiday tradition at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Thanks to ATZ reader Jim Levine, who sent us his photos of the 20th annual Holiday Train Show.

Among the replicas are the original entrance and a ticket booth from Coney Island’s first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 on the north side of Surf Avenue. There’s also a Coney Island bound trolley and the Galveston Flood Building, where a cyclorama of the 1900 catastrophe was a popular attraction.

According to the Botanical Garden’s release, “Natural materials such as bark, twigs, stems, fruits, seeds, and pine cones are used to create more than 140 scaled iconic buildings, including the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Radio City Music Hall, and the original Yankee Stadium. More than a dozen large-scale model railway trains—from late-1800s American steam engines and streetcars to modern freight and high-speed passenger trains and trolleys—traverse nearly a quarter-mile of track across rustic bridges, along overhead trestles, through tunnels, and past waterfalls that cascade into flowing creeks.”

Jim shared a bit of trivia about the trolley in the picture below, which he says is a model of car number 1001. “It was one of the last trolleys to run in Coney Island. My father, who was just starting with the Transit Authority in the 1940s, drove that trolley in Coney Island. That car, 1001, is now at the Shore Line Trolley Museum up in Connecticut and has been fully restored.”

The New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show runs through January 16, 2012. Tickets are available online.

COW-nival Fun but No Cow Pie Bingo at Chelsea Market

Posted in Animals, Events, Food, tagged Chelsea Market, Cow Pie Bingo, dairy farm, game, Ronnybrook on December 11, 2011| 2 Comments »

Banneresque paintings of a two-headed cow and a weight-lifting cow grabbed our attention as we passed by Chelsea Market’s 10th Avenue entrance on Saturday. “COW-nival…Meet the Cows…Learn about Farming…Color the Giant Cow…Cow Pie Bingo and Cornhole.” The fun and games for kids are sponsored by Ronnybrook Farm Dairy, which sells the yummiest chocolate milk, and Edible Manhattan. At the free event, which continues through Sunday, we met and petted two darling calves–Miss Chelsea, a three-week-old Holstein, and Poppy, a two-and-a-half-month old Jersey. The calves were being minded by a young girl whose family founded Ronnybrook 70 years ago. The scene reminded us of a 4-H Club exhibit at a country fair, but we didn’t see anybody playing bingo.

Poppy and Miss Chelsea at Ronnybrook's COW-nival at Chelsea Market, Dec. 10, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Then we learned what cow pie bingo actually is: One or more cows are let loose in a fenced-off area, which has been marked off with numbered squares. Onlookers place bets and the winner is determined by where the cow plops her “pie.” The girl minding Poppy explained that the Ronnybrook calves were too young to play Cow Pie Bingo since they poo only once or twice a day. Cows do it countless times a day, she said. Of course, this greatly increases the odds that the game will have a winner sooner rather than later. Cow Pie Bingo is a popular fundraiser across the country, though probably not coming anytime soon to New York City. Here’s how they play the game at the Carbon County Fair in Rawlins, Wyoming…