Amusing the Zillion

Holiday Album: Coney Island in the Bronx

December 12, 2011 by Tricia

Every Christmas, exquisite models of long-vanished Coney Island landmarks are part of a holiday tradition at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Thanks to ATZ reader Jim Levine, who sent us his photos of the 20th annual Holiday Train Show.

Among the replicas are the original entrance and a ticket booth from Coney Island’s first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 on the north side of Surf Avenue. There’s also a Coney Island bound trolley and the Galveston Flood Building, where a cyclorama of the 1900 catastrophe was a popular attraction.

According to the Botanical Garden’s release, “Natural materials such as bark, twigs, stems, fruits, seeds, and pine cones are used to create more than 140 scaled iconic buildings, including the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Radio City Music Hall, and the original Yankee Stadium. More than a dozen large-scale model railway trains—from late-1800s American steam engines and streetcars to modern freight and high-speed passenger trains and trolleys—traverse nearly a quarter-mile of track across rustic bridges, along overhead trestles, through tunnels, and past waterfalls that cascade into flowing creeks.”

Jim shared a bit of trivia about the trolley in the picture below, which he says is a model of car number 1001. “It was one of the last trolleys to run in Coney Island. My father, who was just starting with the Transit Authority in the 1940s, drove that trolley in Coney Island. That car, 1001, is now at the Shore Line Trolley Museum up in Connecticut and has been fully restored.”

The New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show runs through January 16, 2012. Tickets are available online.

COW-nival Fun but No Cow Pie Bingo at Chelsea Market

December 11, 2011 by Tricia

Half & Half at Ronnybrook Farm's COW-nival at Chelsea Market, Dec. 10, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Banneresque paintings of a two-headed cow and a weight-lifting cow grabbed our attention as we passed by Chelsea Market’s 10th Avenue entrance on Saturday. “COW-nival…Meet the Cows…Learn about Farming…Color the Giant Cow…Cow Pie Bingo and Cornhole.” The fun and games for kids are sponsored by Ronnybrook Farm Dairy, which sells the yummiest chocolate milk, and Edible Manhattan. At the free event, which continues through Sunday, we met and petted two darling calves–Miss Chelsea, a three-week-old Holstein, and Poppy, a two-and-a-half-month old Jersey. The calves were being minded by a young girl whose family founded Ronnybrook 70 years ago. The scene reminded us of a 4-H Club exhibit at a country fair, but we didn’t see anybody playing bingo.

Poppy and Miss Chelsea at Ronnybrook's COW-nival at Chelsea Market, Dec. 10, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Then we learned what cow pie bingo actually is: One or more cows are let loose in a fenced-off area, which has been marked off with numbered squares. Onlookers place bets and the winner is determined by where the cow plops her “pie.” The girl minding Poppy explained that the Ronnybrook calves were too young to play Cow Pie Bingo since they poo only once or twice a day. Cows do it countless times a day, she said. Of course, this greatly increases the odds that the game will have a winner sooner rather than later. Cow Pie Bingo is a popular fundraiser across the country, though probably not coming anytime soon to New York City. Here’s how they play the game at the Carbon County Fair in Rawlins, Wyoming…

Paul’s Daughter Signs 8-Year Lease for Coney Island Boardwalk

December 9, 2011 by Tricia

We’re thrilled to report that this afternoon, Tina Georgoulakos of Paul’s Daughter, formerly known as Gregory & Paul’s, signed an 8-year lease for her family’s restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk. “I’m happy because the Burger statues wanted to stay where they belonged,” she told ATZ wryly. “Now they will get a new sign.”

In October, Papa Burger, a fiberglass figure on the restaurant’s roof, sported a sign that said “Looking for a New Beach.” The 49-year old Mom-and-Pop had been evicted along with seven others by Zamperla, which runs Luna Park. In a surprising about-face, the amusement operator invited two of the businesses–Paul’s Daughter and Ruby’s Bar–to stay and negotiations have been going on for weeks.

Both Papa and Mama Burger and a mix of new and old hand-painted signage as well as a neon sign are expected to be part of the new Paul’s Daughter when it reopens in April 2012. Tina’s father, 82-year-old Paul “The Chief” Georgoulakos, the oldest operator on the Coney Island Boardwalk, will be back too. It appears that our habit of taking photos of “The Last French Fry” as a good luck charm worked two years in a row!

UPDATE December 12, 2011…Zamperla’s Boardwalk line-up for 2012 is now set. As we noted in the comments, Ruby’s Bar signed an 8-year lease, as did another Boardwalk veteran, the Lola Star Boutique. Tom’s of Prospect Heights will open a second restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk, at the corner of Stillwell where Nathan’s and Cha Cha’s were located. See “Coney Island 2012: What’s New on the Boardwalk” (ATZ, November 15, 2011) for details and renderings of the new stores, including Nathan’s, Brooklyn Beach Shop, Ruby’s and Paul’s Daughter, as well as the new Sky Coaster and other rides.