Photography | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

Poetry from the Terminal Hotel by Charles Chaim Wax

Posted in Photography, Reading & Writing, tagged Bruce Handy, Charles Chaim Wax, Coney Island, poems, poetry, Terminal Hotel on September 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Terminal Hotel, Mermaid Ave and Stillwell Ave, Coney Island. May 26, 2011. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

An Unexpected Encounter

I went to Moe’s Used Books
in Coney Island to look for
The Joys of Yinglish,
long out of print
and even though
it was the last week in September
the temperature hovered
in the mid 80s
and Moe’s store lacked an air-conditioner
because all his meager profits
would have been eaten up
by the cost of electricity. Soon I was
sweating and barely able
to breathe
my throat tight and swollen
so I needed
a cool liquid quickly
and plodded along Surf Avenue
to Corn Queen
and ordered a large root beer
but in this particular establishment
they don’t give you an item
until the money has been
deposited in their cash register.
I pulled out a fifty
all I had with me
placed it on the counter
and reached for the root beer
but the guy grabbed the cup
pointing to a sign on the wall:
no bills larger than $20 accepted.
For some reason I blurted out,
“Turn on the air-conditioner,
why don’t you?
It’s like the equator in here.”
He simply smiled.
“Look, I been coming in here
for twenty years.
Lemme drink,
then I’ll get change.”
He shook his head.
“Where’s the owner, Two Ton Tony?
He knows me.”
“Deceased, ” he said.
When I heard that
my knees buckled
and I clutched the counter. Suddenly
a woman appeared
placing a dollar bill on the counter.
“For the big man,” she said.
I immediately snatched
the soda
gulping it down,
then I turned to her
saying, “Thanks.”
She was a prostitute.
The outfit
plus make-up
gave her away
and one word led to another
and soon we were
in room 11 of the Terminal Hotel.
The dear woman
accepted
bills
larger than a twenty.

10/25/2005. Copyright © Charles Chaim Wax
via poemhunter.com

Photo Album: First Brunch at Tom’s Coney Island by Bruce Handy

Posted in Food, Photo Album, Photography, tagged Boardwalk, Bruce Handy, Coney Island, restaurant, Soft opening, Tom's Restaurant on September 23, 2012| 7 Comments »

First Brunch at Tom’s Coney Island. September 23, 2012. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

Coney Island resident and photographer Bruce Handy was one of the first customers at Tom’s Coney Island’s soft opening at 9am this morning. “I had two eggs over easy, home fries, whole wheat toast and coffee, all good,” said Bruce, who posted these photos of Tom’s first Sunday brunch on his Coney Island Photo Diary.

Are they serving pancakes yet? “Not sure, guy next to me had waffles,” he said. On Friday, Tom’s manager told ATZ the full menu will be identical to that of Tom’s Prospect Heights location with the addition of seafood entrees, but their famous pancakes and some other items may not be available just yet. We’ll let you know later. ATZ’s afternoon plans include popping into Tom’s before heading over to a screening of four of these five Coney-themed films at the Coney Island Film Festival.

Update… Yes, Tom’s Coney Island has pancakes! We tried the Danish pancakes made with ricotta cheese and served with a choice of flavored butter. Delicious! Breakfast is served all day. Our friend had the turkey club sandwich which is his favorite at Tom’s in Prospect Heights. Vegetarians will be happy to know there’s a vegie burger on the menu and it is cooked on a grill separate from the one used for meat. Owner Jimmy Kokotas says weekday hours are 8am till 5pm. On weekends, he hopes to stay open till 7pm. In addition, Tom’s has a liquor license and is serving beer. Other alcoholic drinks will be available after they get a delivery, probably the end of the week or next week. At that time, beer and alcohol will be on a separate menu.

Tom’s Coney Island is located on the Boardwalk at the corner of Stillwell Avenue. Though the restaurant is opening near the end of the amusement park season due to months of construction, it is expected to initially remain open at least nine months of the year. We predict it will become a neighborhood favorite. Join us in welcoming Tom’s to Coney Island by dropping by for breakfast or lunch!

Tom’s Coney Island, 1229 Boardwalk (at Stillwell Avenue), Brooklyn, NY 11224. Phone 718-942-4200

San Gennaro: Cannoli, Connie Francis & A High Striker Queen

Posted in festival, Photography, Travel, tagged cannoli, Connie Francis, eating contest, High Striker, Italian feast, Little Italy, San Gennaro, street fair on September 12, 2012| 1 Comment »

It’s that time of year when you get to ride a Ferris wheel set up on the street like in the early 1900s and peer inside apartment windows as you whirl by! The 86th Annual Feast of San Gennaro in New York City’s Little Italy, the world’s most famous street fair, opens on September 13th at 2pm with a Cannoli Eating Contest. If you’ve got the appetite, registration for the contest is now open on Major League Eating’s website. The guy to beat is Patrick Bertoletti, who consumed 32 large cannnoli in six minutes at last year’s festival.

A contingent of Coney Island game and food concessionaires have already decamped from the People’s Playground for Manhattan’s Mulberry Street. Monica the High Striker Queen has packed up her trio of strikers and sundry hammers and prizes, though she says she’ll be back to finish out the season in Coney after the feast ends on September 23rd. This is the spunky gal who told a Voice of America reporter that independent attractions like hers give Coney Island its soul. “Our spirit will live on long after we’re dead, honey. We are the blood, sweat and tears on the block,” said Monica in a feature about Coney’s amusement parks.

Also making the annual pilgrimage to San Gennaro are the proprietors of Gyro Corner, formerly on Coney Island’s Boardwalk and now on the Bowery. They serve different menu items than in Coney: it’s strictly calamari and Mama’s homemade sauce. Cha Cha’s outdoor bar and Steeplechase Park on Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island are now closed for the season, but John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia is also the owner of Cha Cha’s in Bocca Al Lupo Restaurant on Mulberry Street. They are among the more than 35 restaurants and 200 vendors along Mulberry between Houston and Canal and neighboring streets. Buon appetito!

The official feast day marking the anniversary of San Gennaro’s martyrdom is September 19th. After the 5pm Mass at Most Precious Blood Church, the statue of San Gennaro is paraded through the streets. If you go to the feast, make sure to bring crisp new bills, preferably in large denominations, to pin to the beribboned saint, and stop by the Italian American Museum at Mulberry and Grand Streets. At another parade on Saturday, September 15th, legendary singer Connie Francis, born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, will be one of the Grand Marshals riding on a float. Will she serenade the crowd with a medley of her hits from the 1950s and ’60s? A “Meet and Greet” with Connie Francis is scheduled for 4pm on Saturday at the feast’s performance stage at Grand and Mott Streets. The street festival runs from 11am till midnight.

ATZ slide show of the 2009 Feast of San Gennaro…