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R.I.P Coney Island’s Shore Hotel, Henderson Next on Hit List

Posted in Demolition, Photography, tagged Coney Island, Eric Kowalsky, Henderson Music Hall, Lindsay Wengler, Shore Hotel, Thor Equities on December 13, 2010| 1 Comment »

Demolition of Thor Equities-Owned Shore Hotel, Coney Island. December 10, 2010. Photo © Eric Kowalsky

Coney Island’s Shore Hotel was built circa 1903 and demolished by Thor Equities on December 10, 2010. It took only a couple of days for the demo men to take down the century-old wood frame building. There’s nothing left but a pile of sticks to be hauled away. Vanishing New York’s post from August 2009, which we linked to on Friday could serve as its epitaph.

In the post-demolition photo below taken on Saturday, Surf Avenue looks like a dowager with a tooth knocked out. Demolition is also underway at the Henderson Building, seen on the right hand side of the photo. The buildings on the left–the Eldorado Bumper Cars and the Popper Building–are NOT owned by Thor Equities and are NOT endangered.

View of Surf Avenue after the Demolition of the Shore Hotel. December 11, 2010. Photo by Anonymouse

Last week photographer Lindsay Wengler took this photo of workers putting demolition scaffolding to the top of the former Henderson Music Hall. The building, which is at the corner of Surf and Stillwell across from Nathan’s, is next on Thor’s hit list of historic properties. You can see more pix from the set on the photoblog Single Linds Reflex.

Demolition Scaffolding at Thor-Owned Henderson Building. December 9, 2010. Photo © Lindsay Wengler/Single Linds Reflex via flickr

UPDATE… Why Weren’t These Buildings Saved?

We’ve received a few emails asking why these historic buildings were not saved. The short answer is these Thor-owned properties were rezoned for high-rise hotels by the City in July 2009. The long answer is the effort to save these buildings goes back to 2004, when Coney Island USA received a grant from the JM Kaplan Fund to “protect the legacy of old Coney Island” and nominated six buildings for landmark designation. But the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission dragged its feet and would not calendar any of the buildings until 2010, months after the lots had been rezoned. Of the nominated buildings, only two–the Childs Restaurant (owned by CIUSA) and the Shore Theater (owned by Horace Bullard)– are under consideration for landmark designation.

The Municipal Art Society had the Shore Hotel and the Henderson Building on their list of seven to save in Coney Island when MAS testified at a City Planning hearing on the rezoning in May 2009. Among the other structures identified by Coney Island USA, MAS and Save Coney Island were Nathan’s Famous, Childs Restaurant (CIUSA Building), the Grashorn Building, the Bank of Coney Island and the Shore Theater. “Under the NYC Landmarks Law, structures can be designated as landmarks for architectural, historical and cultural reasons,” said MAS’s Lisa Kersavage in her testimony. “Although some of these structures have been altered over the years, their ties to the legendary Coney Island of the past gives them a cultural significance that should be recognized and protected.” The City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission denied landmark designation and also declined to create a historic district, which would have created tax incentives to rehab the buildings.

After the Demolition of the Bank Building, Coney Island. December 9, 2010. Photo © Lindsay Wengler/Single Linds Reflex via flickr

Thor Resumes Demolition of Doomed Bank of Coney Island

Posted in Demolition, Photography, Real Estate, tagged Bank of Coney Island, Coney Island, Department of Buildings, Thor Equities on November 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Bank of Coney Island Demolition. November 17, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Here are a few photos of the demolition-in-progress taken yesterday in Coney Island. As ATZ tweeted on Monday: “Alas funeral services for Bank of Coney back on track. In lieu of flowers send donations to National Trust @PresNation” and “Today in #ConeyIsland saw Thor’s crew resume work at doomed bank bldg. City rescinded Stop Work Order, required fencing put up #bknews”

Bank of Coney Island Demolition viewed from Jones Walk. November 17, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The DOB web page for the building, which has a lag of about 48 hours is now updated. It says “STOP WORK ORDER FULLY RESCINDED. FENCE ERECTED RESCIND APPROVED” The reason for the Stop Work Order, issued on November 10th, was “FTSGP&P NO CONSTR FENCE PROVIDED FOR CREATING SAFETY ZONE DE BRIS FALLING IN ADJ PROPERTY, STOP ALL WORK COMPLY WITH VIOL”

Though the City’s “Full Stop Work Order” remained in effect for only a few days, it gave what’s left of this historic building a respite from the bulldozer. And it was immensely satisfying to be able to write a headline that began “DOB Stops Thor Demo of Coney Island…. “ while the Stop Work Order was in effect. The City has of course failed to stop Thor Equities from first blighting and now demolishing historic buildings in Coney Island.

For more info on the building, see “Photo of the Day: The Bank of Coney Island, Now & Then” (ATZ, October 14, 2010) and “A Rare Peek Inside Endangered Old Bank of Coney Island” (ATZ, October 9, 2009).

Bank of Coney Island Demolition. November 17, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Joe Sitt’s Gang Punches Holes in Bank of Coney Island Building

Posted in historic preservation, Photography, Redevelopment, tagged Bank of Coney Island, Bruce Handy, Coney Island, demolition, Eric Kowalsky, Joe Sitt, Thor Equities on October 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Joe Sitt's Demolition Crew Punched Holes in the Bank of Coney Island's south wall. October 18, 2010. Photo © Eric Kowalsky

On Monday at 2 pm, “Mayor” Dick Zigun sounded the alarm on the Coney Island Message Board: “They have just started to punch holes in the Bank of Coney Island building’s south wall, facing the Bowery. The holes are being punched out from the inside via drills and jack hammers. Earlier today they erected scaffolding along the north and east facades.”

Bank of Coney Island Demolition. October 18, 2010. Photo © Eric Kowalsky

Coney Island photographers Eric Kowalsky and Bruce Handy have been documenting the demolition for the past two days. They’re made of strong stuff. We’ve put off posting the images because it was painful to see this 87-year-old building having holes– first two and three, and now eleven– punched through its walls. We know a building is not a human being, but this is torture. The building looks as if it faced a firing squad and is a dead man standing.

Bank of Coney Island Demolition. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

A poster on the Coney Island board claims that the holes are for shoring up the upper part of brick wall while they build the scaffolding from the inside, so as not to disturb what’s left of the fire-damaged arcade next door. But the bank building was built to last and isn’t going to come down easily. On the first and second day of Joe Sitt’s 40 Days of Demolition, the worst is yet to come.

ATZ promised to live-tweet the demo to keep Sitt’s ongoing desecration of Coney Island in the public eye. But we have no idea how we’re going to weather the ordeal if the first two holes in a wall look like wounds to us. If we could have picked one building to save, the Bank of Coney Island would have been the one. For more info, read “A Rare Peek Inside Endangered Old Bank of Coney Island,” (ATZ, October 9, 2009).