Amusing the Zillion

Live from Coney Island! Wanna Buy a Chair from Ruby’s Bar?

November 1, 2011 by Tricia

Live from the Coney Island Boardwalk! Items Set to be Auctioned today at Ruby's Bar. November 1, 2011. Photo © Charles Denson

If you can get out to the Coney Island Boardwalk in the next hour or two (it’s 3:30 now), you can bid on an authentic chair from Ruby’s Bar and Grill! Chairs and tables along with a slew of old restaurant equipment are piled up in front of the venerable Boardwalk establishment, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. The bar is also open for business in case this news makes you want to have a drink.

Oh, and if you missed Sunday’s “final last call,” you actually didn’t. Ruby’s co-owner Melody Sarrel told ATZ that Ruby’s will open this weekend and next from 11 am till the usual closing time, which is around 6 or 7 pm. Negotiations for a multi-year lease with Zamperla, the operator of Luna Park, are ongoing. Although November 4th is the final date by which the Boardwalk businesses are required to vacate the premises, the deadline was extended through November 14 for Ruby’s and Paul’s Daughter, which were offered leases. But as we said before, it is not a done deal.

The auction, which ATZ first reported on October 30, is currently in progress at Cha Cha’s. After about an hour, the auctioneer will move on to the Coney Island Souvenir Shop and then to Ruby’s. Our original report, “Nov 1: Auction Sale at Cha Cha’s, 4 Others on Coney Island Boardwalk” cited five stores mentioned in the advertisement in the New York Times. The auctioneer told ATZ he had a contract with five businesses, but evidently two of them bowed out of today’s auction.

Today is the one-year anniversary of Zamperla’s attempted eviction of Coney Island Boardwalk Mom & Pops. From ATZ’s archives on Nov 1, 2010: “Out With the Old in Coney Island: Only 2 of 11 Boardwalk Businesses Invited Back.” Eight of the businesses banded together to fight the eviction from the City-owned property on the Boardwalk leased to Zamperla. Seven won a one-year lease, which expires on November 1, 2011.

Posted in Auction, Redevelopment | Tagged Cha-Cha's, Coney Island Souvenir Shop, Ruby's Bar | 1 Comment »

Photo Album: Snowtober in Coney Island by Bruce Handy

October 31, 2011 by Tricia

In past years, ATZ has posted Coney Island resident and photographer Bruce Handy’s first snow of the season photos on December 4 and December 27. Thanks to Saturday’s freaky snowstorm, dubbed Snowtober on the web, we’re celebrating this tradition two months early!

In addition to a snow-covered Boardwalk, Bruce’s flickr slide show offers snow-dusted Halloween characters and the rare sight of the Wonder Wheel’s cars, which ordinarily have been taken down for the winter before the first snowfall. One of our perennial favorites is a white-on-white view of the Cyclone’s snow-covered track. It’s a visual reminder that the first roller coasters were Russian ice slides called “Russian Mountains” and the word for coasters in the Romance languages is the lovely “montagnes russes” in French, “montagne russe” in Italian, and “montaña rusa” in Spanish.

Unfortunately, the October snow that transformed Coney Island into a winter wonderland on an autumn day coincided with the last weekend of the season. Outdoor events such as the second annual Children’s Halloween Parade were cancelled on Saturday, though Ruby’s Bar stayed open and the show went on at Creep Show at the Freak Show. Have no fear about going out to Coney Island for tonight’s “Freaks Night Out” party at Luna Park. The snow and ice on the beach and boardwalk have already melted and the temp is a balmy 52 degrees. If it wasn’t for Bruce’s Coney Island Photo Diary, Snowtober would have vanished without a trace. Enjoy the tricks and the treats—Happy Halloween!

Snow-dusted Halloween Character at the Cyclone. October 29, 2011. Photo © Bruce Handy/Coney Island Photo Diary via flickr

Nov 1: Auction Sale at Cha Cha’s, 4 Others on Coney Island Boardwalk

October 30, 2011 by Tricia

Cha Cha's Bar on the Boardwalk in Coney Island. June 1, 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i

Sunday afternoon’s party at Cha Cha’s with Killer Joe will be the last hurrah for the Home of Wild Women and Wise Guys on the Coney Island Boardwalk. On Tuesday, November 1st, the contents of Cha Cha’s — restaurant equipment, fixtures and memorabilia, including a quantity of neon signs– will be auctioned off. The public sale will be at the bar, located at 1229 Boardwalk near Stillwell. If you’d love to have a piece of signage or other keepsake from Cha Cha’s, be there by 2:00 pm, when the auction begins.

According to an ad for the auction in today’s New York Times, the sale includes “5 Coney Island Restaurants, Bars/Snack Bars” and contains “a tremendous quantity of memorabilia!!!!” Auctioneer Vinny Casale told ATZ that the auction’s five locations include Cha Cha’s on the Boardwalk and neighboring bars and restaurants as well as the Coney Island Souvenir Shop. “There is an upright player piano marked William Knabe & Co. from the 1920s that comes with piano rolls,” he said of the items for sale at Cha Cha’s. “There are a lot of neon signs.” Some of the other restaurants are selling off old equipment and furniture which will no longer be needed, regardless of whether they are closing or have hopes of returning to the new, rehabbed Boardwalk or another location next year.

Sources tell ATZ that Cha Cha’s, Beer Island, Gyro Corner and Coney Island Souvenir Shop were not offered new leases for the Boardwalk by Zamperla USA. Gyro has already moved signage and equipment to their Bowery location. The last we heard from “the Coney Island Rumor Mill,” Ruby’s Bar and Paul’s Daughter were in negotiations for multi-year leases and it was not a done deal. Although November 4th is the final date by which the Boardwalk businesses are required to vacate the premises, the deadline was said to have been extended through November 14 for the businesses offered leases and with whom negotiations were in progress. Steve’s Grill House, located at the corner of Stillwell Avenue, was reportedly offered the space adjacent to his restaurant, where the Tacos and Tortas stand is located. The Tacos restaurant is relocating to Neptune Avenue between Stillwell and 15th Street. They leased the store formerly occupied by Classic Heros, which closed last year.

Cha Cha’s Closing Party featuring Killer Joe and Vinny “Big Pussy” Pastore of The Sopranos starts at 3pm on Sunday, October 30. Ruby’s “Final Closing Party” begins at 12 noon. The date was changed to Sunday because of yesterday’s weather. Paul’s Daughter is expected to be open as well.

The advertisement for the November 1st auction lists the following items:

icecream, memorabilia, Coldlite C/T Ice cream machines, 3- Flavor margarita machines, Batch Freezers, Lab 100B & 500, 5- Ice machines, ! & 4 direct beer taps, Curved glass gelato cases, ! & 2 Glass dr refrigerators, 1 & 2 S/S Dr Refrigerators, Flat top grills, Hot Dog Cart, Coffee machines,& Grinders, Funnel cake cart, Chest & Upright Freezers, C/T Pizza Ovens, 4- Ice-Cream Dip Boxes, Deep Fryer & Hood Combo, 8-camera system, ADS Pass thru D/W, lg Screen TVS, Ship Chandeliers, Brass Glass Racks, Glass Sneezeguards, 10-Cash registers.

Complete Build A Bear Machine originally costing $5k with bears & stuffing, 75 neon signs, pretzel & popcorn machines, smoke machines, sheet pan racks, bar stools, 60 chairs, 15 tables, 4 glass lighted showcases, 500 Coney Island sweatshirts & t-shirts, Novelty items, So many more items too many too list. call auctioneer for more info

The sale is being held by Best Buy Auctioneers in conjunction with Vincent Casale Auctioneers.

Last year on November 1st, nine Boardwalk businesses received “surrender the premises” letters from Zamperla USA, the operator of Luna Park (“Out With the Old in Coney Island: Only 2 of 11 Boardwalk Businesses Invited Back,” ATZ, Nov 1, 2010). Eight of the businesses banded together to fight the eviction from the City-owned property on the Boardwalk leased to Zamperla. Seven won a one-year lease, which expires on November 1, 2011.