Amusing the Zillion

Photo Album: Making Mulch & Chainsaw Art from Recycled NYC Trees in Coney Island

June 18, 2015 by Tricia

Chainsaw Art and Mulch in Coney Island. May 23, 2015. Photo © Tricia Vita

Mulch for sale by the yard and the buzz of chainsaws are among the unexpected new sights and sounds in Coney Island’s amusement district this season. Chainsaw carvers creating sculptures and mulch made from recycled New York City sycamores removed under contract with the Parks Department will be on a vacant lot next to the Thunderbolt roller coaster on Mermaid Parade Day and the Fourth of July. The artists are from upstate New York and New England and include Susan Peters of Blue Rose Chainsaw Carvings, Ravena, NY; Sue O’Sullivan of Renaissance Girl, Royalston, MA; and Adam Mulholland of Sickline Carving, Windham, CT.

Chainsaw Carvings for Sale in Coney Island. May 23, 2015. Photo © Tricia Vita

ATZ first met the carvers and took these photos on Memorial Day Weekend in Coney Island, where they’d been invited by Roger West of A.2.Z Universal. West is a subcontractor hired by Paul Bunyan Tree Service to help recycle some of the thousands of trees that have been cut down in New York City after Hurricane Sandy. On Memorial Day, the scene on the Surf Avenue side of the lot where the event took place was reminiscent of a rural county fair. Pedestrians stopped in their tracks to watch the carvers shape wood into fanciful sculptures and buy some of the pieces, which range in price from $20 to a few thousand dollars.

Chainsaw Carving on Surf Avenue in Coney Island. May 23, 2015. Photo © Tricia Vita

An array of finished pieces was on display along with piles of mulch for sale and a towering stack of firewood. The carvings included tikis, totems and Hello Kitty, among others. Insignia of the Brooklyn Cyclones and Gargiulo’s Restaurant found homes at these local businesses. For Mermaid Parade Day, the carvers have been creating an inventory of starfish, seahorses and other sea creatures to sell in Coney Island. The privately owned lot is just west of West 15th Street, sandwiched between Luna Park’s Thunderbolt and Peggy O’Neills.

Chainsaw Carvings for Sale in Coney Island. May 23, 2015. Photo © Tricia Vita

West has already processed a couple of thousand yards of mulch and has enough wood from New York City trees to make 10,000 more yards. “I can ramp up my production but I need an alternative outlet because we’re producing it at a high rate,” says West, who hopes gardeners, community groups, businesses and anyone in the market for mulch will contact him via A2zuniversalLLC[AT]gmail[DOT]com.

Chainsaw Art and Mulch in Coney Island. May 23, 2015. Photo © Tricia Vita

Posted in art, Events | Tagged A.2.Z Universal, Blue Rose Chainsaw Carvings, chainsaw artist, chainsaw carving, chainsaw sculpture, mulch, recycling, Renaissance Girl, Sickline Carving | 1 Comment »

Coney Island Businesses Racing to Open by Mermaid Parade Day Now Aiming for July

June 16, 2015 by Tricia

Magic Gyro to Reopen in Stillwell Terminal. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

A trio of big name businesses originally hoping to open in Coney Island by Mermaid Parade Day, which marks the start of summer, have now set their sights on July and in one case August. Wahlburgers, IHOP, and Boston Beer Corp’s Coney Island Brewery have held job screenings but remain under construction.

Amid the influx of new businesses, there is one that is returning to its Stillwell Terminal store more than 2-1/2 years after being devastated by Hurricane Sandy! Coney Island Gourmet, a Mom & Pop owned by Turkish Americans, is being renovated and expected to reopen as Magic Gyro in July. When ATZ reviewed the store in August 2012, it had a corner kitchen and a “Magic Gyro” sign on the Stillwell Avenue facade. In addition to chicken and veal sandwiches and entrees served with rice and salad, the menu offered falafel, hummus, babganoush, haydari (yogurt flavored with garlic, herbs and olive oil) and stuffed vine leaves, all very reasonably priced. The store will no longer feature a food shop and is being renovated as a restaurant.

Coney Island Brewery on Surf Ave in MCU Park Building

At 1904 Surf Avenue, the Coney Island Brewing Company, whose craft beers celebrate the iconography of Coney Island, hopes to officially open its doors in mid-July. The brewery is located in a retail space on the outside of MCU Park adjacent to Peggy O’Neill’s. “We’re excited about the opportunity,” Kathleen Barnes of the Coney Island Brewing Company told ATZ earlier this year. She said they’re planning to have a tasting room, retail space, a community center, and tours of the brewing process. Draft beers will be sold in growlers. Retail items include Coney beer-themed tap handles, coolers, beach towels, T-shirts and trucker hats. The line of Coney Island beers was relaunched in 2013 after being sold to Alchemy & Science, a division of Boston’s Samuel Adams.

Further east on Surf Avenue, across from Luna Park, the construction of IHOP in a 5,400-square-foot store has been delayed by the slow approval process for building department permits. “While waiting patiently the franchisee is going forward with his soft core work. He should be open late August,” says Joe Vitacco, who leased the space to the pancake franchise in February.

Meanwhile, in Thor Equities “Retail Ride of A Lifetime” building on Stillwell, a quick peek inside Wahlburger’s Coney Island shows the 6,800 square foot Wahlburgers franchise to be far from finished. Asked when the celebrity restaurant would open a worker said, “Next month, by the Fourth of July.” The latest post on the eatery’s Facebook page says “The family is coming to town,” referring to actors Mark and Donnie Wahlberg and Chef Paul Wahlberg. The most recent photo is a snapshot of the view from their rooftop dining area. Can the A&E crew be far behind? Season 4 of Wahlburgers premieres on July 15.

UPDATE June 17, 2015:

The reality show comes to Coney! Wahlburgers Coney Island sent out an invite from the Wahlberg family to a private VIP Preview and Ribbon Cutting on June 23rd.

Video of the Day: Chinese Flower-shaped Cotton Candy Comes to Coney Island

June 8, 2015 by Tricia

Rocky makes Chinese-style, flower-shaped cotton candy in a booth on Coney Island’s Bowery. May 30, 2015

Chinese-style cotton candy has come to Coney Island’s Bowery, where a friendly vendor nicknamed Rocky spins and shapes the flossy threads into a multi-colored pastel flower. In the video that we shot it takes him just one minute and several seconds to create the amazing confection. Rocky says this style of cotton candy is popular in southern China and that he learned the technique by watching videos on the web. Videos shot in China of street vendors making the flower-shaped cotton candy are prolific on YouTube but it’s our first sighting of the phenom in New York City.

The quintessential carnival food debuted as “fairy floss” at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, where it was served in a wooden box and took in more than $17,000 over the fair’s six-month run. The new booth on the Bowery at West 12th street has also introduced frozen yogurt with toppings sold by the ounce to Coney Island. It is owned by 5D Cinema proprietor Terry Zheng and located next-door to his theater.