Amusing the Zillion

Dec 4: Coney Island Amphitheater on Calendar at City Planning

December 3, 2013 by Tricia

Childs Building, Proposed Elevation Boardwalk. GKV Architects, PC and Higgins Quasebarth & Partners via NYCEDC

Visitors to Coney Island frequently ask “What are those ruins on the Boardwalk?” From Steeplechase Pier, where the crumbling walls are not evident but the allure is unmistakeable, they simply ask “What is that building?” On Wednesday at 10:00 am, the City Planning Commission at 22 Reade St. will consider and is likely to approve the plan to convert the former Childs Restaurant building on the Boardwalk, a New York City landmark, into an amphitheater for live concerts and a restaurant. If the board votes yes, as expected, then it goes to the City Council on Dec 16

The project’s official name is “The Seaside Park and Community Arts Center” and it would also “provide the community with additional publicly accessible recreational and entertainment opportunities throughout the year,” according to the proposal. The application was submitted by property owner iStar Financial (AKA Coney Island Holdings) and the City’s Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

Anyone wishing to speak at the hearing is requested to fill out a speaker’s slip at the staff desk outside the hearing chambers. Remarks are limited to 3 minutes. The full agenda of the meeting –the Childs Building is “Nos. 9-14”– and information on submitting written statements can be found in the calendar[pdf].

section Looking at Stage, Childs Building in Season. GKV Architects, PC and Higgins Quasebarth & Partners via NYCEDC

As previously noted (“Clock Ticking on Plan for the Landmark Childs Building,” ATZ, September 25, 2013), the City has the funds to bring the landmark back to life since Borough President Marty Markowitz will be able to use $50 million set aside in 2010 for a $64 million amphitheater in Asser Levy Park that was halted by a lawsuit. Since then, his free Seaside Concerts have been held on the Washington Baths site, a vacant lot across 21st Street from the Childs Building.

If the $50 million isn’t spent by the time the Borough President’s third term ends on December 31, 2013, it would go back into the public coffers and be lost to Coney Island. The landmark building’s deteriorating condition is also cause for concern. After Sandy, parts of the terracotta facade cracked and began falling off. A sidewalk shed was installed this summer.

Childs Building, Proposed elevation West 21st Street. GKV Architects, PC and Higgins Quasebarth & Partners via NYCEDC

New Construction: Coney Island Area’s 1st Hotel in Decades

December 2, 2013 by Tricia

Under Construction: Sleep Inn Hotel at at 2590 Stillwell Avenue. December 1, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

A Sleep Inn Hotel, the Coney Island area’s first new hotel in many decades, is under construction at Stillwell Avenue and Avenue Z, just north of Coney Island Creek. A sign on the construction fence says “Anticipated Completion: Fall 2015.” Mahesh Ratjani, one of the partners in the project, tells ATZ: “We are hoping to have it completed by the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015.” According to DOB records, a 12,989 square foot, four-story hotel will occupy the 13,000 square foot lot. Sleep Inn is a member of the Choice Hotels Group.

Ratjani and his partners own 15 hotels in New York and New Jersey, including the Comfort Inn off the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park. The vacant lot at 2590 Stillwell Avenue was purchased for $1.9 million in 2007, according to Property Shark. The property is conveniently located off the Cropsey Ave/Coney Island exit of the Belt Parkway. The area is technically on the border of Gravesend and Bath Beach, though frequently identified as part of Coney Island. The closest subway stop is Bay 50th, one stop from Coney’s Stillwell Terminal, on the D line.

Under construction at 2590 Stillwell Avenue. December 1, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

There are currently no hotels in the Coney Island area and it’s been many decades since a new one opened. On Stillwell Avenue at Mermaid, the long-shuttered Terminal Hotel across from Stillwell Terminal was constructed in 1904 and housed a hotel by 1930 and perhaps as early as 1915 when the subway station opened. In the 1940s, it had a popular grill with live music, but by the 1960s and ’70s had deteriorated into a flophouse and was condemned.

In 1927, the Half-Moon Hotel opened on the Boardwalk at 29th Street and was managed by the American Hotels Corporation and financed by prominent members of the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce. “The Great Depression killed the Chamber’s dream of greatness and the hotel sat exiled at the West End until the beginning of WW II when it was transformed into a naval hospital,” according to the Coney Island History Project. It later became a geriatric center before being demolished in 1996.

New construction: Sleep In Hotel at 2590 Stillwell Avenue. December 1, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

The City’s rezoning of Coney Island included the upzoning of three Thor Equities-owned properties on the south side of Surf Avenue for hotels up to 30 stories. In public hearings, we argued against high rises — including hotels — on the south side Surf, saying it would destroy instead of enhance Coney Island’s economic potential as an amusement and tourism destination. As it turns out, a hotel has yet to be built on Surf Avenue and we can only hope it never will be. Instead, the Coney Island area’s first new hotel in decades is located in a much more suitable location north of the amusement area with easy access to the Belt Parkway.

The new Sleep Inn’s immediate neighbors are two-and three-story residential buildings, an equipment rental company, and Amore Rent-A-Car. The legendary Viola Pigeon Club, home of a 400-mile contest in which the birds were released in Ohio and flew back to New York, is directly across Stillwell Avenue. Since Frank Viola’s death in 2007, the race is no longer held, but the club and the story of the “return of the Coney Island homing pigeons” have been the subject of documentary films.

UPDATE October 25, 2015

This first report of the new construction, in December 2013, and another posted last spring, have been appearing in our Top Ten Posts over the past week or so. Sleep Inn Coney Island, as the new hotel is called, finally opened 10 days ago. Rates start at $119 per night and include free breakfast, wi-fi, and other amenities.

Across the Avenue: Viola Pigeon Club, Stillwell Avenue and Ave Z. Photo © Tricia Vita

Up for Auction: Antique Tin-Plate Toy Carousels

December 1, 2013 by Tricia

Althof Bergmann Clockwork Carousel, The RSL Auction Co, Dec 7, 2013

These antique toys are a reminder that once upon a time, before steam power, carousels had to be cranked by hand or turned by a live horse. This charming tin-plated clockwork carousel was made in the 1800s by Althof Bergmann and Co. of New York City. The toy importer and manufacturer was in business from the mid-1800’s and exhibited their wares at the 1878 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. This carousel with tin gondolas, horses and riders under a fabric canopy will be auctioned on Dec 7 at the RSL Auction Co. in New Jersey. The pre-sale estimate is $8,000-$12,000.

Mueller & Kadeder Zeppelin-Carousel, Antico Mondo Toy Auction, December 7, 2013

The first Zeppelin took flight in 1900 and soon captured the popular imagination of German toymakers. This Zeppelin-Carousel, made in 1910 by Mueller & Kadeder, will be sold at Antico Mondo’s annual toy auction on December 7 in Germany. The pre-sale estimate is €1,600 – €2,500. According to Grand Old Toys, M&K produced a wide range of fanciful aeronautical toys, carousels, and novelty toys. The flag at the top of the carousel–in this case the red and white flag of Monaco–indicated market destination.

Another Zeppelin Carousel to be sold at the same auction was manufactured by Krauss, one of the early tin toymakers of Nürnberg, and includes a fragment of the original box. The presale estimate is €15 – €20.

Krauss Zeppelin-Carousel, Antico Mondo Toy Auction, December 7, 2013

The company that made the Bing carousel seen below (Presale estimate €390 – €600) was founded as Gebrüder Bing in Nürnberg in 1865 as a tin and kitchenware manufacturer. They became the largest toy manufacturer in the world by 1900. Today there’s a Bing Toy Museum in Freinsheim.