Today’s Saturday matinee at ATZ features “Shorty at Coney Island,” a 1936 Paramount short filmed at Steeplechase and Luna Parks. “Coney Island, where a fella can have the time of his life, especially if he’s a baby chimpanzee,” says the narrator. The chimp got to roam the amusement zone, where he was encouraged to ride the Human Pool Table, dangle from the seat of a whirling swing, and climb to the top of the Ferris wheel. They even let him cheat at Skeeball. Don’t expect to see a remake of this classic anytime soon!
Historian Charles Denson‘s video tribute to Coney Island’s historic Henderson Music Hall is beautifully done and, of course, heartbreaking. In addition to rare archival material, the video features an unexpected recent look inside the building, which is currently under demolition.
Denson’s interior shots reveal what remains of the Velocity Nightclub on the building’s second floor. This performance space was exquisitely restored and brought up to code in 2004, before Thor Equities bought the building and began to blight it. The footage shows the space to be in surprisingly good condition and repudiates what Thor Equities CEO Joe Sitt told NY1 in May: “Every one of these buildings is just horrible, rundown relics with nothing exciting about them. I hate to say it, but the great buildings of Coney Island disappeared 80 years ago.”
Last time we wrote about Thor’s demolitions, readers asked: Why wasn’t this building saved? The City aided and abetted Joey “Bulldozer” Sitt by rezoning the Henderson parcel for a high rise hotel. 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 building.
Parksmania, the premier Italian news portal for amusement and theme parks, interviewed Alberto Zamperla about Luna Park Coney Island at the Euro Attractions Show in Rome on October 6-8, 2010. Since the conversation is in Italian, ATZ asked a friend to translate Zamperla’s remarks.
Parksmania’s YouTube video also has footage of Luna Park’s rides in action and a “virtual tour” of the park. At the beginning of the vid, you’ll catch a glimpse of Zamperla’s rendering of the future Luna Restaurant’s hot pink facade and blue awnings.
As ATZ reported earlier this month, the $1.4 million dollar restaurant is currently under construction at Surf Avenue and 10th Street and will be operated by corporate giant Sodexo, which will also run some of the food concessions on the Boardwalk. Luna Park Coney Island, which has 18 Zamperla rides plus a Reverchon water flume, opened on Memorial Day Weekend 2010.
Here’s a translation of what Alberto Zamperla, president and CEO of Antonio Zamperla S.p.A, had to say in the interview with Parksmania…
It’s always been my dream to create a whole amusement park with only Zamperla-attractions. To do this in New York, where the great amusement park of Coney Island opened over 100 years ago, and to become part of this magnificent history, is among the best experiences I had in my life.
We have opened 19 new attractions, we employed 210 persons, we received 200 inspections from the Building Department. This shows the logistic excellence of Zamperla, which even Bloomberg recognized. He himself couldn’t believe that we were able to realize all this in only 100 days. We showed an incredible organizing ability.
We have had 400.000 visitors, 25% more than expected. We opened the park the very day we completed the construction works.
We conquered the trust of the NYC Municipality, so much that in the coming years we’ll expand the park. Next year we’ll create a “thrill zone” with “adrenalinic” rides for the youngsters, including a roller coaster.
The trust was so great that they entrusted us with the refurbishment of the whole boardwalk, so that we will also take over the management of the gastronomic activities.
Amusing the Zillion 