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By the Numbers: Coney Island New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim 2010

Posted in Events, News, tagged By the numbers, Coney Island, Coney ISland Polar Bear Swim, Dennis Thomas, Freezin for a Reason, New Year's Day, Polar Bear Club, winter swimming on January 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The crowd gets bigger every year at the New Year’s Day Polar Bear Club Swim in Coney Island. Exactly how many Bears and Cubs took the plunge on Jan 1, 2010? How many people were spectating? How much did the charity event raise for Camp Sunshine? (Yep, you can still mail in a check.) Dennis Thomas, the President of the the Coney Island Polar Bears, gave us an update and analysis of the increasingly popular event’s stellar stats. Photos courtesy of Bruce Handy/Pablo 57’s “Coney, January 1, 2010 Polar Bear Plunge” set…

Lou Young of CBS News and Coney Island Polar Bear Club President Dennis Thomas. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Lou Young of CBS News interviewing Coney Island Polar Bear Club President Dennis Thomas. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ: Do you know how many people “did it” on January 1st vs last year’s swim? And how many regular members of the Polar Bear Club participated vs. how many swim on a typical Sunday

Thomas: I believe there were over 1000 swimmers this New Year’s. I don’t have any numbers for last year, but it was brutally cold last year and the crowd felt noticeably larger than last year. We have about 140 full-time members in the club. At our weekly swims we have been averaging 80-90 swimmers. I think we had more than 100 there on New Year’s.

Formal Pose, Members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club at New Year's Swim. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Formal Pose, Members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ: what are the reasons for the event growing every year? Was this year’s larger crowd due to the 41 degree air temp?

Thomas: I’m not sure why the event is growing. Part of it is just word of mouth. People went last year, told their friends who said, yeah I want to do that next year. Part of it is that Coney Island has been in the press so much lately that it is going through its own revival regardless of the development plans. Crowds out there are getting bigger for all events the past 2 years.

Part of it is our club seems to have a larger media presence than in the past and things like our website make us much easier to find than say, 10 years ago. And somehow we are less portrayed as those idiots on the beach that cause network newscasters to chuckle and shake their heads after a 10 second clip before the weather report. The New Year’s Swim is basically free and open to the public, that might be a draw in the current economy as well. I think it’s all these things that explains the larger crowds.

Huge Crowd at New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ: How many spectators were there? And how many people involved with staffing the event including crowd control and safety? We noticed Chuck Reichenthal (District Manager of CB 13) in some pix.

Thomas: Again, it’s hard to estimate the size of the crowds on the beach. I believe someone told me the Fire Dept. estimated 10,000 people. I can’t verify that, but I also don’t doubt it. The entire bay was filled with people. I’m not sure on the numbers of the safety teams but there were 2 police boats, 3 Fire Dept boats, numerous Fire Dept EMT teams, ambulance crews, water safety teams through CERT, 3 kayakers, and at least 5 lifeguards and countless volunteers from the Polar Bear Club.

ATZ: What are latest stats on how much money was raised for Camp Sunshine? People can still mail in checks, right?

Thomas: I don’t have final figures, but we raised somewhere around $28,000 this year, up from last year which in this economy is pretty decent. And yes, people can still make contributions.

Big Babies at New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ: Looking at the flickr pix by various photographers it seemed like more people were wearing costumes than in previous years. Maybe that’s just the sort of thing photographers tend to take more photos of? Or maybe there were just more people, more costumes? Do you have any comments or insight about that?

Thomas: The costume thing. Maybe it’s part of the Mermaid Parade spirit and the fact that it is after all Coney Island. We neither encourage nor discourage costumes. People just do that on their own. And it is a holiday, and a bit of an absurd activity. That must play a role in it.

Photo Op, New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club swims at 1 pm every Sunday from November through April. To join them as a guest, show up at the New York Aquarium Education Hall, on the Boardwalk at West 8th Street by 12:30 pm.

Coney Island School Bus Lot Has Gotta Go! The Circus Is Coming

Posted in circus, News, tagged Coney Island 2010, feld Entertainment, Gold Unit, Illuscination, Parking lot blight, Ringling Circus, School Bus on December 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Which would you rather see this summer in Coney Island? Row upon row of permanently parked yellow school buses? Or Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus’s Illuscination under the Big Top? We thought so…

Today, Ringling’s magical new show starring “thrillusionist” David DaVinci, an aviary of macaws, doves, and free flying parrots, a trio of Italian clowns, and much more will premiere in West Palm Beach. Stay tuned for our upcoming preview of the show. Come summer, Feld Entertainment is expected to bring the Gold Tour #4 to Coney Island after the successful 12-week run of their Coney Island Boom-A-Ring in 2009.

“I was down in Florida for rehearsals of the new Gold Unit last week and I have to tell you – it’s spectacular!” says Steve Yaros, Vice President, Event Marketing & Sales, Northeast Region at Feld Entertainment. Yaros has been working with Taconic Investment Partners to secure the lot at 21st and Surf where Ringling raised its blue and yellow striped tent last summer. ATZ had heard the circus performers were telling friends they’ll be in Coney over the summer. Come visit! When we asked Yaros, he said a deal has yet to be made.

“They are still looking for a place to relocate the buses that are currently there. It would be a shame if yellow buses replace The Greatest Show On Earth on Coney Island this summer,” says Yaros. “But I’m optimistic we will figure out a solution soon. It’s Feld Entertainment’s sincere desire to return to Coney Island in 2010 and continue the summertime tradition we started last year. So please keep your fingers crossed and send us positive vibes.”

“BUS: Coney Island is also a holding zone for every school bus on earth.” August 25, 2008. Photo © gtranbot via flickr

We’re optimistic, too. Last summer’s Coney Island Boom A Ring brought The Greatest Show On Earth back under “The Big Top” for the first time since 1954 and attracted over 160,000 visitors in its first year in Coney Island. The Coney Island community–those of use who live or work here–are of course thrilled to have Ringling return with a new show. The circus folk were great neighbors and partners in helping us publicize the fact that Coney Island is Really Fun and Really Open.

We’re optimistic since Ringling wants to come back and Mayor Bloomberg wants the circus back and the Mayor is known for getting things done. “The City is looking forward to a vibrant summer in Coney Island in 2010, and we hope that the Ringling Brothers Circus will be part of it,” says Libby Langsdorf, assistant vice president for public affairs at New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC).

If ever there was a time to end the school bus parking blight in the People’s Playground, it’s now. There are already too many pix of yellow buses popping up in visitors’ flickr sets of Coney Island. If you think we’re exaggerating, take a look. Visitors wonder why all the school buses on earth are parked there. It’s a surprising thing to see in the heart of Coney Island, so they snap a picture. Memories are made of this. There are actually two bus lots–one on property owned by Thor Equities adjacent to Nathan’s and one further west on Taconic’s property. Let’s exile the buses on Thor’s property while we’re at it and replace them with….rides!

“I remember Coney Island. Coney Island School Bus Depot in the rain.” May 17, 2009. Photo © Matto Fredriksson/mattogbg via flickr

The unamusing buses have long term leases to park on the empty lots despite the fact that the area was zoned for amusements. The photographers’ captions say it all: A bus station, a school bus graveyard, Coney Island School Bus Depot and School Bus School Bus School Bus School Bus School Bus School Bus. If anyone knows of an empty lot where the throng of school buses can go on permanent vacation from Coney Island, please let us know! Or better yet, let the City know. See you at the circus!

UPDATE April 7, 2010:

Goodbye school buses! Hello Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey! It’s finally official: Feld Entertainment issued a press release today announcing The Coney Island Illuscination. The show will run from June 17 through September 6, 2010.

Set to Land in Coney Island: Golden Knights Parachute Team, Air Force Week

Posted in Events, News, tagged Air Force Week, August 2010, Brooklyn, Coney Island Air Show, Golden Knights, USAF Thunderbirds on December 11, 2009| 2 Comments »

This is a post on the 2010 air show that was cancelled. Current post on the 2015 New York City Air Show in Coney Island is here.

The U.S. Army’s Golden Knights Parachute team will return to Coney Island to perform in ~~the new air show scheduled for August 28-29, 2010~~, (Cancelled! See Aug 10 Update below) ATZ has learned. We can’t wait to see the inevitable pix of the parachutists with the Parachute Jump in the background! Friends who’ve attended Coney Island air shows of the past (the last one was in 2000) say the jumpers land with unerring precision on targets set out on the beach.

Golden Knights U.S. Army Parachute Team. Photo courtesy of the US Army

The air show will also mark the historic return of the USAF Thunderbirds jet team to Coney Island as ATZ reported earlier this week. The August 28-29 weekend air show will be the culmination of Air Force Week, according to Ted Plana, the Director of Air Operations for the show. The event is the Air Force’s equivalent of Fleet Week and will be a citywide event. “They will be going into the boroughs,” Plana says.

Air Force Weeks were established in 2006 by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and have traveled to different locales including St. Louis, Las Vegas, Sacramento and Los Angeles. The L.A. event featured free events such as spectacular flyovers, aircraft and interactive simulator demos, concerts, a film festival and more. According to the USAF, “The Air Force Week program is part of a proactive initiative to increase communication with the public. Each Air Force week may include community visits and talks by Air Force officials, flight demonstration team performances and displays providing an up close and personal look at the Air Force men and women serving on the front lines.”

Young spectators take a look inside an Air Force Thunderbirds' cockpit at the California Capital Airshow the culminating event of Air Force Week-Sacramento, Sept. 12. Air Force Week-Sacramento is an event using various activities and exhibitions to educate the community about the Air Force's capabilities and missions. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III

Both the Golden Knights and the Thunderbirds released their 2010 schedule on December 8 at the ICAS (International Council of Air Shows) Convention in Las Vegas, setting off a flurry of speculation in Coney Island about the sponsorship of the new event in the People’s Playground.

Plana tells ATZ that the event has been in the planning stages for the past year and a half. “We have been working with the City to get clearances and permits, and then with the Air Force to get the Thunderbirds,” says Plana. Now that the stars of the show are on board, the sponsors are gearing up to officially announce the event.

The last weekend in August was chosen for this family oriented event since people are home and getting ready for school, Plana notes. It’s also a time when attendance drops off in Coney Island. At a recent stakeholders meeting, Coney Island business owners called for more special events in late August to boost attendance. Sounds like they got their wish.

How many people are projected to attend the air show? “A conservative estimate would be 500,000 per day,” says Plana, who notes that more than 2 million people live in Brooklyn and the air show will be visible for blocks beyond the amusement district.

“It will have some of the elements of the Lauderdale show, including stages,” says Plana, who has been Director of Air Operations for the Fort Lauderdale Air and Beach Festival for the past 15 years. The best viewing area as well as the stages are expected to be set up at Stillwell Ave and 10th Street. The air show and the majority of Air Force Week events will be free to the public.

This concludes the week of “Finding out About the Secret Air Show in Coney Island” at ATZ! Drop by next week for the usual news and rumors about what’s going on in Coney Island, ATZ’s first book review and more.

UPDATE August 10, 2010:

We’re sorry to report the Coney Island Air Show could not get all of the necessary permits–a complicated situation by all accounts– and persistent rumors that the air show would be cancelled or “postponed” have turned out to be true. The high cost of police security for the event was also rumored to be a factor. The Thunderbirds and Golden Knights finally removed “Brooklyn, NY” from their schedules. Air Force Week NYC will go on without a Coney Island Air Show. Instead they’re advertising the Aug 25 air show in Atlantic City!