Amusing the Zillion

Thor’s Coney Island: Generic New Building at Surf & Stillwell

February 2, 2012 by Tricia

Exiting Stillwell Terminal in the new Coney Island, the first sight one sees is Thor Equities generic looking new building. January 29, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

What’s the opposite of “Ta Da”? After seven years of real estate speculation and many grandiose renderings, the construction fencing came down from Thor Equities first-ever new construction in Coney Island (flea market tents don’t count) to reveal a sterile-looking building suited for a suburban mall. It’s located on the southeast corner of Surf and Stillwell, the gateway to Coney’s Beach and Boardwalk as well as Scream Zone’s roller coasters and thrill rides.

The generic new building is the first sight visitors see in Coney Island as they exit Stillwell Terminal. We’d be surprised if it contains any rides, arcades or carny games. During the construction, Thor Equities had a sign atop the fence touting “CONEY ISLAND – The RETAIL RIDE of a LIFETIME – for leasing contact…”

View from DNALSI YENOC of Thor Equities New Building. January 29, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The building has yet to sport any signs of tenants, but the Coney Island Rumor Mill has been saying for months that a Johnny Rockets (“The Original Hamburger,” founded in 1986 in L.A.) is coming to the Surf Avenue side. Hat retailer Lids–too bad it’s not the quirky Susquehanna Hat Company that HBO’s Bored to Death brought to Jones Walk/Bagel Street–is rumored for one of the stores. If it’s true, we’ll find out soon enough: Coney Island’s opening day is just two months away. Memorial Day is in four months. What would you like to see on this corner across the street from the iconic Nathan’s Famous?

Thor's Coney Island: Stillwell Avenue side of Joe Sitt's sterile and suburban looking new building in the new Coney Island. January 29, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

It’s not as if we expected a Freakenspiel carousel and water fountain topped by a pyrotechnic elephant. That concept was part of Joe Sitt’s grandiose pitch back in 2005. Just for fun, check out the “Coney Island Rendering Hit Parade Pop Quiz,” a 2007 post by Brooklyn’s Blogfather Bob Guskind on the real estate blog Curbed. A lot has changed in the seven years since the real estate speculator began buying up property in Coney Island’s amusement zone. Sitt’s new building was reportedly built with a foundation suitable for a much taller structure. The site was one of four on the south side of Surf rezoned by the City in 2009 for a 30-story hotel.

The Henderson Music Hall stood on this corner for more than a century until Sitt had it demolished along with two other buildings in 2010, putting an end to Save Coney Island’s efforts to create an historic district. The Henderson was the longtime home of Popeye’s Chicken, the Fascination video game arcade, Velocity Nightclub and amusement games like Shoot Out the Star (open year round!), Clown Water Race and Balloon Dart. All lost their leases or were evicted. The old tenants are not expected to return to the new building, where rents are said to be over $100 per square foot, according to the rumor mill. Popeye’s found a new space a few doors down in the Popper Building for one third the price of what Thor was said to have asked for the equivalent of their former space.

Thinkwell's rendering for Thor's Temporary One-Story Building in Coney Island. April 2010. Via The New York Observer

In April 2010, Thor Equities released this rendering of a cheesy looking temporary one-story building occupied by hamburger and taco food joints. And a statement: “With the work we are commencing today, by Memorial Day, 2011, all of our parcels along Surf Avenue are scheduled to be activated with family-friendly games, food, shopping and other activities that visitors to, and residents of, Coney are clamoring for….”

Remnant of Under Boardwalk Bar Found in Coney Island

January 31, 2012 by Tricia

The renovation of stores on the Coney Island Boardwalk has already uncovered the ghost lettering of an arcade and signage for Club Atlantis. The latest discovery is a remnant of one of the rathskellers that thrived under the Boardwalk in the 1940s and ’50s. The menu for the long-lost bar was found on a basement wall by Maya Haddad of Brooklyn Beach Shop, which will soon begin rehabbing the first-floor space formerly occupied by Coney Island Souvenirs.

Vintage Ad: Coney Island Rathskeller for Lease

Decades before the Army Corps of Engineers pumped sand under the Coney Island Boardwalk in the 1990s, rathskellers (council’s cellar in German) were popular with beach goers. ATZ found an ad from 1957 looking to lease an 80-foot Boardwalk frontage with an 80-foot rathskeller below with direct frontage on the beach.

The name of the rathskeller whose menu was rediscovered remains unknown, but its prices appear to date back to the 1940s. Beer and milk were 10 cents, coffee was a nickel. The sandwich menu included hamburger, egg, cream cheese, American cheese, Swiss cheese, Sardine or Salmon, Ham, Salami or Liverwurst, Ham & Egg, and a Western. Could this be the place where the boy in the 1953 movie The Little Fugitive returned soda bottles to collect money to go on the rides?

Brooklyn Beach Shop’s new location next to Ruby’s Bar is in a building that dates back to 1940. The original tenant was Moe’s Fascination, which occupied the upper story until 1965. Brooklyn Beach Shop, a spinoff of Coney Island Beach Shop located behind Nathan’s and in Stillwell Terminal, will feature their own brand of Coney Island-themed clothing and souvenirs. The Boardwalk shop is expected to open in April.

Lost Delights of Coney Island: Frozen Custard

January 28, 2012 by Tricia

Frozen Custard from Photographs of New York by Reginald Marsh. ca. 1938-1945, printed 1976. Reginald Marsh. Courtesy AntiquePhotographics.com

When Reginald Marsh photographed Coney Island as the subject for his artwork in the late 1930s and the ’40s, one could still buy frozen custard for a nickel. The dessert made its debut in 1919 when the Kohr brothers, Archie and Elton, opened a stand on the Coney Island Boardwalk. The nickel treat was a sensation, selling 18,460 cones on the first weekend! Kohr’s Frozen Custard is still in business on the Boardwalks at Seaside Heights and Casino Pier on the Jersey Shore. According to the history page of the company’s website, “After many experiments with the formula, Archie and Elton discovered that by adding eggs to the mix, they got a much more stiff, velvety and creamy product which would melt more slowly.”

Today, Coney Island’s ice cream offerings include Denny’s soft serve and Coney’s Cones gelato, but the frozen custard stands of yesteryear are long gone. You have to go to Shake Shack in Manhattan. Or all the way to Utah, where Coneys Custard and Gourmet Dogs won the “Best of State Award” last year. Their signature custard is named after the Cyclone roller coaster.

Like the Whip ride and the game of Fascination, frozen custard is another delight that first saw the light of day in Coney Island, but can’t be found here anymore. Last year, ATZ proclaimed “Bring Back the Whip!” This year we add: “Bring Back Fascination and Frozen Custard!”

UPDATE, January 30, 2012…

Comments on Facebook and twitter in response to this post have inspired this update: What’s the difference between soft serve and frozen custard?

Wikipedia says: “True frozen custard is a very dense dessert. Soft serve ice creams may have an overrun as large as 100%, meaning half of the final product is composed of air. Frozen custard, when made in a proper continuous freezer will have an overrun of 15-30% depending on the machine manufacturer. Air is not pumped into the mix, nor is it added as an “ingredient” but gets into the frozen state by the agitation of liquid similar to whisking a meringue. The high percentage of butterfat and egg yolk gives frozen custard a thick, creamy texture and a smoother consistency than ice cream. Frozen custard can be served at –8°C (18°F), warmer than the –12°C (10°F) at which ice cream is served, in order to make a soft serve product.”

According to FDA requirements, frozen custard must have at least 10 percent milkfat and 1.4 percent egg yolk solids, but some brands have more. If it has fewer egg yolk solids, it is considered ice cream. Frozen custard has less fat and sugar than ice cream.

UPDATE January 4, 2014:

Rita’s Italian Ice, a national franchise whose tag line is “Ice, Custard and Happiness” will open a store on Surf Avenue at West 15th street in Coney Island.