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Winter’s First Snow in Coney Island by Bruce Handy

Posted in amusement park, Photo Album, Photography, tagged Boardwalk, Bruce Handy, Coney Island, Luna Park, snow, Wonder Wheel Park on January 26, 2013| 10 Comments »

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

It’s about time it snowed! In past years, ATZ has posted Bruce Handy’s first snow of the season photos in December and once in October during the weather event known as Snowtober. “I was on the beach near the water earlier about 5, when I felt the wind shift, all the seagulls took off, the snow front had arrived,” says the Coney Island resident and photographer, who took this series of photos on Friday night. His elongated shadow appears on the snowy boardwalk in the photo above.

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

On the roof of Paul’s Daughter, Papa Burger looks out at the sparkly boardwalk and the silent and motionless rides of Luna Park and Wonder Wheel Park. Luna Park’s colorful Balloon Expedition, seen below, looks like a sugar coated confection.

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

“The snowflakes were very light, very silvery, and it was not cold,” says Bruce Handy, who only saw one other person on his photowalk. “Timeless feeling when it snows, like a dream, you can imagine the rides running packed with people.”

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

The 12th Street side of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park is illuminated by vintage light fixtures made by amusement ride manufacturer William F. Mangels, whose factory was once on 8th Street in Coney Island. The park’s vintage kiddie fire engines and pony cart rides were made there.

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

“And as I’m walking, I’m having a future memory of how this spot will be in the future, the B&B Carousell music playing,” says Bruce Handy of this shot of the Parachute Jump and the new pavilion for the antique carousel, which will open this season. “When I’m in the falling snow, I lose all sense of time, could be years, could be seconds.”

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

Snowy midway in Wonder Wheel Park and wintry Cyclone! In just 56 days –March 24, 2013– the wheel will spin and the roller coaster will go for its first run of the season.

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

Photo Album: Pieces of Coney Island Skyline in December

Posted in Photo Album, Photography, tagged Coney Island, Hurricane Sandy, Luna Park, McCullough's Kiddie Park, Pete's Clam Stop, Scream Zone, skyline, sunset, Wonder Wheel on January 7, 2013| 3 Comments »

Coney Island Sunset with Scream Zone and Parachute Jump. December 6, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

While putting together “Amusing the Zillion’s Top 10 Coney Island News Stories of 2012,” we considered doing a fave unposted photos of 2012 feature but there were too many pix to choose from. If a photo isn’t or doesn’t become newsworthy, it often gets overlooked. Since there’s a post-holiday lull in the usual Coney Island Melodrama, here’s an album of quiet photos from early December. What these images have in common are pieces of the Coney Island skyline.

Coney Island Skyline, December 6, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

Hoax photos from Hurricane Sandy of the Parachute Jump snapped in two and real photos of a coaster underwater in Seaside Heights have visitors coming to ATZ to find out if Coney Island’s rides survived. The answer is yes! Coney Island’s rides will open for the 2013 season on March 24th, Palm Sunday, with a complimentary spin on the Wonder Wheel. Seen in the photo above from left to right: the Astro Tower, which is no longer an operating ride, but will be lit with LEDs; the Cyclone Roller Coaster; Deno’s Wonder Wheel, minus its cars, which are removed for the winter; and Scream Zone’s Steeplechase Coaster and Zenobio.

Brooms lined up post-Sandy inside Luna Park Coney Island. December 6, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

In November, Luna Park pitched in to help Coney Island recover from Hurricane Sandy by rewarding volunteers who signed up for four hours of clean-up with an unlimited ride, four-hour wristband to the park. “Over 300 people volunteered their time with Luna Park as part of a massive effort to rebuild Coney Island,” according to a post on the park’s Facebook page. “Luna volunteers cleared 4 parks and playgrounds, served 3 churches, cleaned 9 homes and 2 streets and helped clear the boardwalk by the amusement areas.”

This surreal image of a discarded carnival prize in post-Sandy Coney Island was just too sad to post on the day that we snapped it. A big part of it was the game that it came from is owned by a friend. The storm-damaged plush bear and fellow prizes were photographed here and there in the amusement area before being carted away.

Even sadder was our last look at the last remaining ride sign in McCullough’s Kiddie Park, which had been torn down and was being trucked away. The Bumblebees, Kiddie Ferris Wheel and Himalaya are all gone. Today, there’s an empty lot where the kiddie park existed since the 1960s. As ATZ reported in September, the McCullough family operated amusements in Coney Island for four generations and are related to the Tilyous of Steeplechase Park. They closed the kiddie park, their last remaining business here, after being unable to come to an agreement on terms for a lease extension with property owner Thor Equities.

On the bright side, Pete’s Clam Stop and its old school signage on Surf Avenue at 15th Street is here to stay. Along with Williams Candy next door, it is owned by Peter Agrapides, who has worked in Coney Island for six decades.

Photo Album: New Year’s Day Coney Island Photo Diary by Bruce Handy

Posted in News, Photo Album, Photography, tagged Bruce Handy, Coney Island Photo Diary, Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge, New Year's Day on January 3, 2013| 1 Comment »

Coney Island Polar Bear New Year’s Day Plunge

“After Superstorm Sandy, this was the first time Coney could shine,” says Coney Island resident and photographer Bruce Handy, whose empathetic shots of Coney Island people and places appear frequently on ATZ. He spent his New Year’s Day as usual taking photos on the beach and boardwalk. We’re delighted to start off a new year of photo albums with his photographs of the 2013 Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge.

“I tried to capture people in their natural element, especially emotions: happy, sad, afraid of the cold water, maybe thinking it was a good idea at home but now would rather be in a warmer place,” says Bruce. “About ninety percent of the people were very happy to start their year bathing in the medicinal waters of Coney Island. Sandy was a reminder that life is short and the Polar Bear Plunge is the answer, to follow your heart and soul, to not waste a minute, go for it.”

As ATZ previously reported, for the first time in the Polar Bear Club’s history, instead of everyone running into the water at once, groups went in approximately every seven minutes, a couple hundred at a time. “Each of the five runs was different, all the people were very enthusiastic,” says Bruce. Last year on New Year’s Day, temps in the 50s drew a record number of celebrants– more than 3,000– making the changes advisable from a safety standpoint. This year, tempa were in the 30s and the event drew approximately 2,000 swimmers, according to Dennis Thomas, president of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club.