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Photo Album: A Solitary Evening Stroll in Coney Island

Posted in Photo Album, Photography, tagged Coney Island, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Dreamland Artist Club, Feed the Clown, Luna Park, Miss Coney Island, Parachute Jump, Ruby's Bar on April 5, 2014| 2 Comments »

Luna Park Lights at Jones Walk, Coney Island. April 2, 3014. Photo © Tricia Vita

This weekend, Deno’s Kiddie Park and Ruby’s Bar on the Coney Island Boardwalk will open for the 2014 season, to be followed by next week’s official Palm Sunday Opener for the Wonder Wheel, Cyclone and the rest of the amusements. The park and concession owners are busy getting ready, but by the time we went for a stroll on Wednesday evening around 8 pm, almost everyone had gone home for the night. Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk were lit up but eerily deserted.

Wonder Wheel and A Wish on the Bowery, Coney Island. April 2, 3014. Photo © Tricia Vita

Wednesday was our first glimpse of the Wonder Wheel’s cars back up on the wheel. The freshly painted cars were rolled out of winter storage and put up on Tuesday. We missed it this year, but the annual ritual is the first sign of spring in Coney Island. Being there to see the red, blue and white cars go up, the Swinging ones first and then the Stationary, is like seeing crocuses bloom before your eyes.

Jones Walk at the Bowery, Coney Island. April 2, 3014. Photo © Tricia Vita

This mural at the corner of Jones Walk and the Bowery is one of the few remaining works of Steve Powers and Creative Time’s Dreamland Artist Club. It’s still holding its own. John “Crash” Matos painted the rolldown gate of the Snack Bar in 2005, but the work of Ronnie Cutrone, which was just above it, was stripped and taken away a couple of years ago, as were the rest of the signs on Jones Walk.

The Dancing Doll ‘Miss Coney Island,’ West 12th St. April 2, 3014. Photo © Tricia Vita

On West 12th Street, the feet of the dancing doll “Miss Coney Island” and her dancing cats were peeking out from beneath the partially open metal shutter. Miss Coney as well as the window featuring the miniature rides of “Coney Island Always” will be open this weekend. They’re located on West 12th Street next to the Coney Island History Project and a few steps from the entrance to Wonder Wheel Park. Still 25¢ to Fall in LOVE!

Clown Game on West 12th Street, Coney Island. April 2, 3014. Photo © Tricia Vita

Next door, Feed the Clown and the other independently owned games were brightly lit and the only place open on the block, though not yet open for business. The joints were being flashed for Opening Day. A group of marionette prizes danced in frenzied unison. Their strings were being manipulated by an unseen force. Merry-go-round music played. We made a movie (Stay tuned.) Did you ever notice that clowns look even creepier covered in plastic tarps?

Catch 1 Ball Win This Prize, West 12th Street, Coney Island. April 2, 3014. Photo © Tricia Vita

At Ruby’s Bar on the Boardwalk, the newly refinished floor was glowing. A solitary worker, who was about to leave for the night, opened the door so we could get a photo. Coney Island’s oldest bar and its famous jukebox opens on Saturday for the season. Cheers!

Newly Refinished Floor at Ruby’s Bar, Coney Island Boardwalk. April 2, 3014. Photo © Tricia Vita

On Wednesday, the Parachute Jump was lit blue for Autism Awareness Day. There was a ceremony at 6:30 in the evening, but by the time we got there no one was on the Boardwalk. Slivers of light glimmered beneath the metal shutter of Place to Beach Bar. Workers opened the side door, ready to call it a night. A crescent moon was suspended in the sky over the Jump.

Parachute Jump and Place to Beach Bar, Coney Island Boardwalk. April 2, 3014. Photo © Tricia Vita

Currently, the Parachute Jump is lit nightly from 4:30pm until midnight or later. The landmarked tower’s 8,000 LEDS are illuminated year-round like the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower. The light show changes according to the day and the season. It was specially programmed with a “Happy Holidays” message and Christmas-y colors by Luna Park. In celebration of the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl win, the Jump was lit in sea green and blue light, and it was green on St Patrick’s Day.

Parachute Jump Lit Blue for Autism Awareness Day. April 2, 3014. Photo © Tricia Vita

Photo of the Day: Chomping at the Bit for Coney Island’s Opening Day

Posted in Amusement ride, Photo of the Day, Photography, tagged Blessing of the Rides, Coney Island's opening day, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Deno's Kiddie Park, Mangels, Pony Cart on March 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

This freshly painted little pony from the classic Mangels Pony Cart at Deno’s Kiddie Park will soon be back on the ride’s platform. In the meantime, he appears to be chomping at the bit for Coney Island’s Opening Day. It’s only 15 days away! The Palm Sunday opener, featuring the Blessing of the Rides at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park and the ceremonial Egg Cream Christening of the front car of the Cyclone, is April 13th.

Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen Auction Coney Island Tees for Charity

Posted in Auction, Photography, tagged City Harvest, Coney Island, eBay auction, eBay Giving Works, Gogo and Didi Do NYC, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, T shirt, Waiting for Godot on March 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Image on autographed T-shirts being auctioned on eBay Giving Works to benefit City Harvest

A series of photos of actors Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen hamming it up at New York City tourist spots during rehearsals for their Broadway run in Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land has been a hit on twitter. Called “Gogo and Didi Do NYC,” the social media campaign took the bowler-hatted duo from the Empire State Building and Katz’s Deli to Coney Island’s Wonder Wheel and Nathan’s. With their last performance set for March 30th, McKellen and Stewart are now inviting fans to bid on three autographed T-shirts custom-printed with their image at a Coney Island souvenir shop during their September visit.

Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen riding Wonder Wheel,

Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen riding the Wonder Wheel, Coney Island, September 2013

Current bids on the shirts (small, medium and large) range from $560 to $625, making them the most expensive Coney Island Tees in history. It’s for a good cause. The proceeds of the eBay auction, which ends on April 3rd, will benefit City Harvest. As Stewart writes:

In Waiting for Godot, Gogo and Didi are two old tramps, needy indeed. They don’t know where they’ll sleep that night, they don’t know where their next meal will come from, and they hoard their meager resources, sharing whatever they do have. In short, they’re hungry. It seemed a natural fit—Gogo and Didi and City Harvest. City Harvest helps to feed nearly two million New Yorkers facing hunger each year. So bid early, bid often, bid high, and know that you’ll be funding a vital and important organization.

Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in Coney Island

Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen eating at Nathan’s, Coney Island, September 2013

As for Stewart and McKellen’s trip to Coney Island, it was memorable…

But one day in particular was unusually fun—we went out to the famous Coney Island and had a marvelous time. We played skee ball, hopped on the Wonder Wheel (the view from up there is lovely), and went and scoffed hotdogs at Nathan’s. (Ian, being a pescatarian, delighted in corn-on-the-cob and clam chowder.) In a truly bizarre moment, to our surprise we found Leonard Nimoy, seated outside a few tables away, himself indulging in Nathan’s for the first time. After lunch, we strolled back to the boardwalk. Ice cream for me, candyfloss for Sir Ian, on a bench, on the Coney Island boardwalk…two old(ish) Brits enjoying a classic American seaside landmark. As we left the fairground area and the late afternoon was approaching, we stopped off at a souvenir vendor’s booth and posed for a silly portrait that we impulsively had printed up onto three t-shirts.