Amusing the Zillion

Coney Island Photography Workshop with Kevin C Downs

June 16, 2010 by Tricia

Coney Island, Ruby's, Mermaid Day Parade 2007. Photo © Kevin C Downs

Kevin Downs’ annual summer photo documentary workshop at Coney Island USA began earlier this month, but there’s still time to join. Consider it your passport to see Coney in a new light all summer long. The Saturday sessions, which continue through September 4, generally begin with a review at noon in the Coney Island Museum and go through the evening. Tuition is a very reasonable $300. From the course description:

Throughout its history, Coney Island has drawn many famous photographers: from Walker Evans to Weegee; Lou Stettner to Bruce Gilden. All have come to document this part of Brooklyn that is full of energy and creativity.

During this workshop, students will be documenting the changing conditions of this historic and magical place. Students will be shooting during the day and night, the icons of Coney Island: the Cyclone, Deno’s Wonder Wheel, the Mermaid Parade, and the personalities that inhabit the Boardwalk and the surrounding areas, from the water to Mermaid Avenue, developing their powers of observaton and their techniques.

Students will be asked to think of a specific documentary theme to focus on for the entire 14 sessions. Some examples could include: “The People of Coney Island”, “Architecture of Coney Island”, etc. The documentary theme can be anything that tells a story and documents the people, architecture and/or landscape of Coney Island. All themes must be approved by the instructor.

Coney Island, The Zipper from The Last Days of Coney Island and The Real Brooklyn. Photo © Kevin C Downs

Full disclosure: Kevin Downs as well as workshop participants Bruce Handy and Suzy Lafferty are friends of ATZ. We’ve learned a lot about photography from looking at their flickr photostreams and have selected their photos for our magazine articles and blog posts.

Coney Island resident and ATZ contributor Bruce Handy has taken Kevin’s class for the past three seasons and has assembled an impressive flickr set of his favorite photos from the workshop. “Kevin is an excellent teacher who brings 125% to the table,” says Bruce. “Our classes last year included field trips to see famous photographers, among them Louis Stettner. At least four times last year prominent photographers were guest lecturers at our class. Kevin arranges all this with joy. Kevin is a champion of Coney Island. He brings out the best in people. He is a very humble person, a passionate, natural teacher.”

Coney Island. Photo © Kevin C Downs

Suzy Lafferty’s photos from the 2009 workshop appear on her blog Satsuma’s Junkyard, beginning with the Coney Island Dancers in Coney #1 and ending with a couple kissing at twilight on Henderson Walk. Says Suzy: “After having gone to grad school for photojournalism, a rather mummifying experience, Kevin’s workshop helped me to resurrect my love of photography: the search and the longing and the state of being that defines documentary photography for me.”

On the Boardwalk, Coney Island. Photo © Kevin C Downs

Suzy describes the Coney Island Workshop: “We would gather and talk about photography for hours, often losing track of time, and then we would set out in droves or make solitary rounds of the candy apples, the atlantic splash zone, or the boardwalk, seeking our moments or following a story. The class was the rarest of finds. It’s dimensions stretch three months in length, it costs close to nothing, and the hours each Saturday are sprawling. Many times Kevin stayed out with us until midnight, roaming and combing the night for twisted and heartfelt tales.”

For info contact Kevin C Downs at kevincdownsphoto@mac.com or 917-607-3935. Kevin’s website is kevincdownsphoto.com. You can register online at Coney Island USA’s website.

Coney Island, 2008. Photo © Kevin C Downs

Photo of the Day: New Ride at Coney Island’s Wonder Wheel Park

June 15, 2010 by Tricia

New Ride at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Coney Island. June 12, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Last week Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park in Coney Island debuted a brand-new Samba Balloon ride. Manufactured by Zamperla, the family ride seats 32 children or 16 children plus 8 adults in colorful spinning tubs designed to resemble hot air balloons. Deno’s amusement park features 22 rides including the landmark Wonder Wheel. Bon Voyage!

Thor’s Coney Island: Caution! Asbestos Removal at Doomed Bank

June 14, 2010 by Tricia

What's behind the newly erected tarp atop Bank of Coney Island? Asbestos removal in progress! June 14, 2010

We’re shocked that the City has issued permits to Thor Equities for pre-demolition asbestos abatement during Coney Island’s summer season. Couldn’t Joe Sitt be persuaded to wait till October to get on with his dirty work of demolishing the historic buildings that he owns in Coney Island?

Joey Bulldozer Sitt, who has ZERO rides and attractions on his Stillwell lots this season, contributes ZERO to the Coney Island community. While Coney Island’s stakeholders are busy working to make this summer the best in decades, the only thing Joe Sitt is busy doing is turning the rest of his Coney property into empty lots asap. Too bad New York City is not ancient Athens, where citizens considered dangerous to public welfare were banished!

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The permit from the City’s Department of Environmental Protection is dated June 1, 2010 and runs through January 2011. Is the City monitoring the air around the doomed Bank of Coney Island or leaving it up to Thor’s team to keep us safe from inhaling asbestos fibers and dust? Here’s where we start to be concerned…

Workers have been doing asbestos abatement at the bank building on weeknights for the past two weeks. Last week another Coney Island photographer was threatened by a thuggish worker who made a grab for his camera as he was snapping photos. Did they have something to hide or were they merely camera shy? Today for the first time the crew worked daytime hours. Early this morning some kind of white covering appeared on the rooftop, but caution tape did not materialize on the street until 1 pm. Sounds of heavy machinery in bank. Observers tell ATZ it looked like they were cutting and removing pipes and metal. While some workers wore hazmat-type gear, others were seen working inside the building in street clothes, no hard hats. Around 3 pm, they put garbage bags full of material in the back of a closed unmarked truck.

Uh, do we have to point out that asbestos is considered dangerous? Since there is no known safe level of exposure, all asbestos exposure should be avoided. Anyone who is exposed to asbestos can get mesothelioma. “Workers who deal with this deadly material often carried microscopic asbestos fibers home with them in their clothes and hair, which caused secondary exposure to their families and friends. Over time, these innocent victims can develop mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other fatal conditions.”

NPU ducts protrude from second story of Bank of Coney Island. Photo by Capt Nemo.

See “A Rare Peek Inside Endangered Bank of Coney Island” (ATZ, Oct 9 2009) for a look at a building that is not long for this world. The City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected Save Coney Island’s proposal to landmark the bank building and three other historic buildings. The other three –the Grashorn and Henderson and the Shore Hotel — are probably next on the abatement list. One day last week when we passed by the vacant Shore Hotel, we saw the shuttered first floor open. A man was inside taking notes. Since the Henderson and Bank of Coney were doomed by last year’s rezoning for 30 story hotel towers, it’s doubtful that Save Coney Island’s continuing efforts to save them will succeed. So what’s your hurry, Joe?

UPDATE August 14, 2010:

We’re sorry to report the demolition permit for the bank building was issued yesterday– Friday the 13th. It was no surprise because on Wednesday the sidewalks around the Thor-owned building were being dug up to disconnect sewer and water lines in preparation. How inexpressibly sad to see the potential here and what will be gone forever in a matter of days. Don’t bother calling the DOB to complain either. It’s final! According to the permit: “This job is not subject to the Department’s Development Challenge Process. For any issues, please contact the relevant borough office.” Joe Sitt will soon have another empty lot to add to his collection of empty lots.

UPDATE June 14, 2010:

Soon after our post, we received an email from contributing photographer Bruce Handy with links to his flickr photo set of asbestos removal signs at the Shore Hotel, seen during Save Coney Island’s Historic Walking Tour on June 13. We bet the other two buildings have permits, too. Too bad the DOB doesn’t list these permits on the Bank of Coney’s and Shore Hotel’s pages on the DOB site, where people have been keeping an eye out for news! According to the DEP’s website, the City’s permitting process for asbestos abatement has been moved from the DOB to the DEP’s office in Lefrak City.