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Men in Black 3 Set Transforms Coney Island Boardwalk

Posted in film, Photography, tagged Astroland Rocket, Boardwalk, carnival booth, Coney Island, Diana Taft Shumate, Men In Black 3, movie set on May 2, 2011| 3 Comments »

Men in Black 3 Set on Coney Island Boardwalk. Photo © Diana Taft Shumate

Coney Island is ready for its close-up in Men in Black 3! Retro-looking booths and signage started going up last Monday on the beach side of the Boardwalk from 12th Street to Stillwell Avenue. Madame Zava Phrenology, Balloon Dart, Water Race, Cotton Candy, and a Souvenir Stand topped by a mini Astroland Rocket delighted visitors over the weekend. Thanks to Coney Island photographer Diana Taft Shumate for this set of photos. Filming begins on the Boardwalk on Monday morning, May 2, and continues through May 5 at other Coney locations, including the Bowery on Wednesday.

THe Fortune Teller: Men in Black 3 Set on Coney Island Boardwalk. Photo © Diana Taft Shumate

Men In Black 3 stars Will Smith as Agent J traveling back in time to 1969 to stop a villain from killing a young Agent K played by Josh Brolin. According to the storyline, if the killing were carried out in the past, it would result in the destruction of Earth in the present. As ATZ reported in “Men in Black 3 Rescues Coney Island’s Oldest Building” (ATZ, April 10) the production company leased Coney Island’s oldest building, the long vacant Grashorn, from Thor Equities and rescued it from oblivion. They fixed up the gutted interior of the building located at Surf and Jones Walk to use as their location headquarters.

The Rocket: Men in Black 3 Set on Coney Island Boardwalk. Photo © Diana Taft Shumate

Our favorite part of the Boardwalk set is this darling little Rocket. Was it inspired by the Astroland Rocket, which was perched atop the roof of Gregory & Paul’s Boardwalk eatery until two years ago? The Rocket came to Coney Island’s Astroland Park in 1962 as one of the first of the imaginary space voyage simulators constructed during the Space Race. What role will the imaginary Coney Island of Men in Black 3 play in saving the Earth from destruction? We’ll find out when the film premieres next May!

Cotton Candy: Men in Black 3 Set on Coney Island Boardwalk. Photo © Diana Taft Shumate

Photo Album: Coney Island Reliefs by Deborah Masters

Posted in art, Photo Album, Photography, tagged Arts for Transit, Bruce Handy, Coney Island, Deborah Masters, MTA, Ocean Parkway, relief sculpture on April 29, 2011| 1 Comment »

Deborah Masters' Coney Island Reliefs on Ocean Parkway Viaduct. October 2, 2009. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

See Queen Mermaid, sideshow performers, sunbathers and Cyclone riders in cast concrete on the gateway to Coney Island! On Saturday, April 30th, MTA Arts for Transit is hosting an event from 2 to 5 pm to celebrate the completion of Deborah Masters’ Coney Island Reliefs at Ocean Parkway Viaduct. The station is on the Q line at Ocean Parkway and Brighton Beach Avenue. Masters was awarded the commission in 1992 and the piece was completed in 1994, but the viaduct needed repair before the concrete panels could be hung on its facade. The reliefs were in storage for 15 years!

Coney Island photographer Bruce Handy’s series of photos of the Ocean Parkway sculptures were taken when the installation began in 2009. “They look much nicer now with painted borders and the screw holes filled in,” says Bruce who plans to take a new series of photos this weekend.

UPDATE April 30…Here’s a link to Bruce Handy’s flickr slide show of the finished installation. Just beautiful!

Deborah Masters' Coney Island Reliefs on Ocean Parkway Viaduct. September 25, 2009. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

According to the MTA’s Arts for Transit page on the work…

Sculptor Deborah Masters created the Coney Island Reliefs in cast concrete. The 1260 sq. ft. of relief panels fit within existing recesses in the viaduct. Tinted a terracotta color to harmonize with the sandstone color of the Ocean Parkway viaduct, a massive structure that carries the subway across six lanes of traffic and an Olmstead parkway, the reliefs portray scenes from the history and legends of Coney Island, including Neptune, a mermaid, beach, boardwalk, and amusement park scenes. The designs are based upon photographs, drawings, and interviews by the artist with local residents and visitors to the famed amusement park.

The original commission was for the inside of the subway station, but when the artist looked at the Viaduct surface, she noticed indentations she felt sure were intended for reliefs. She felt that the Olmsted Parkway, the widest old road to the beach, and the Art Deco Viaduct decorated with red, green, blue, yellow, and orange deco tiles from 1915 was intended by Frederick Law Olmsted, the founder of landscape architecture, to be the “Gateway to Coney Island”. She proposed adding 1650 sq. ft. of reliefs about Coney Island to the viaduct.

Photo of the Day: Denny’s Ice Cream & Eldorado Auto Skooter

Posted in Amusement ride, Food & Drinks, Photography, tagged Bumper Cars, Coney Island, ice cream shop, Surf Avenue on April 28, 2011| 8 Comments »

Two of Coney Island’s longtime family-owned businesses are next-door neighbors on Surf Avenue. ATZ happened to get this shot of their colorful marquees at dusk on Easter Sunday.

The Eldorado, Coney Island’s Disco Palace of Bumper Cars, opened in 1973 and is owned by Sandy and Sheila Fitlin. You can read about the history of the Eldorado in an interview that we did with their son Scott Fitlin last year.

Denny’s Dennis Corines has owned and operated the ice cream shop since 1968. Specialties include fresh crispy popcorn, candy apples and pistachio-banana soft serve.