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Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island History Project’

Coney Island Lost A Good Friend: RIP Andy Badalamenti

Posted in Amusement ride, In Memoriam, News, tagged Andy Badalamenti, Astroland, Charles Denson, Coney Island History Project, Maple Garden, obit, obituary, old chair on July 27, 2011| 27 Comments »

Andy Badalamenti Tries Out the 120-year old chair at the Coney Island History Project, August 29, 2008. Photo © Tricia Vita

Coney Island lost a good friend on Monday. Andy Badalamenti, who operated such legendary rides as the Tornado and the Bobsled, and lived in the house under the Thunderbolt roller coaster when he worked as its caretaker, died on Monday after battling cancer. “Coney Island was Andy’s life and obsession,” wrote Charles Denson, in a moving tribute to his friend, who is featured in his books “Coney Island: Lost and Found” and “Wild Ride: A Coney Island Roller Coaster Family.”

“Andy grew up working in Coney Island. He possessed a pure devotion to whatever ride he worked on and the people he worked for,” Denson writes in “Wild Ride.” When the Tornado roller coaster was set afire by arsonists in 1977, Andy climbed to the top and stood beneath the Christmas cross screaming “We’re gonna fix it! The Tornado will be back!” But the coaster was doomed. “The image of Andy Badalamenti high atop the smoldering ruins of the historic roller coaster, triumphant and defiant, promising rebirth, remains a part of Coney Island folkore,” writes Denson.

This photo of Andy Badalamenti trying out a 120-year-old chair from Feltman’s Maple Garden Restaurant was taken at the Coney Island History Project on August 29, 2008. Astroland was set to close forever on the next weekend. After winning a one-year reprieve, many of us felt despondent about not being able to save the park again. But Andy wasn’t about to give up hope. He had dreams of moving the rides a few blocks away and was busily talking up the idea. His eyes always glittered when he smiled.

The 120-year-old chair had a sign telling people not to sit on it, but if anyone had earned the right to sit on a Coney Island museum piece it was Andy Badalamenti. Rest in peace, Andy. Coney Island will miss you.

The wake will be at 2-5pm and 7-9pm on July 27 and 28 at Cusimano and Russo Funeral Home, 2005 W. 6th St at Avenue T, in Brooklyn. The funeral will be at 9:45am on Friday, July 29, at the Church of Saints Simon and Jude, 185 Van Sicklen St at Avenue T.

Andy Badalamenti with Louise Bonsignore, whose family owned and operated the Bobsled, at the Coney Island History Project. September 8, 2008. Photo © Tricia Vita

New Construction: Coney Island’s 1st Private Beachfront Condos on Boardwalk

Posted in Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged beachfront condominium, Charles Denson, Coney Island, Coney Island History Project, Lincoln Baths, Taconic Investment Partners on February 17, 2011| 11 Comments »

Beachfront Condos Under Construction on Boardwalk at 32nd St, Coney Island. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via Android

The first private beachfront condominiums to be built on the Coney Island Boardwalk are under construction at West 32nd Street and are expected to be completed this summer. The four-story building will have 11 units including 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, each with its own parking stall. Marina Krasnova of New Vision told ATZ that sales prices range from $685,000 for a one-bedroom to $1.55 million for the penthouse.

Located in the West End of Coney Island, across the street from the NYC Housing Authority’s Coney Island Houses, this new construction is a harbinger of more beachfront residential to come. The rezoning plan approved by the City Council in 2009 put 26 high rise residential towers and 5,000 new units of housing in Coney Island, including beachfront condos on Taconic Investment Partners 5.5 blocks of vacant land just west of MCU Park (West 20th Street).

We think it is the future beachfront residential, which Taconic has valued at $300-$900 per square foot, that is driving the City’s plan to gentrify the Boardwalk and make it into a year-round destination with upscale restaurants and bars.

Beachfront Condos Under Construction on Boardwalk at 32nd St, Coney Island. Photo © Bruce Handy/Coney Island Photo Diary via flickr

Coney Island History Project director Charles Denson, who grew up in Coney Island Houses, tells ATZ that the lot on West 32nd Street has been vacant since 1982. “It was the site of Sam’s Knishes and the Lincoln Baths,” said Denson, whose book Coney Island: Lost and Found combines a history of land use in his neighborhood and boyhood memoir. “Sam’s had the best cherry cheese knishes in the world and the Lincoln Baths go back over 110 years.” On the History Project’s blog “Ask Mr Coney Island,” Denson notes that the Lincoln Baths, along with the Washington Baths (W 21st St), Roosevelt Baths (W 30th St) and Jefferson Baths (W 33rd St) were Coney Island’s “presidential bathhouses.”

“The bathhouses were where people rented lockers and changed from street clothes to swim suits. You could also rent swimsuits and beach chairs and umbrellas,” writes Denson. “They were very social places and generations of families and friends from the same neighborhoods patronized the same bathhouses for years until the last one (Brighton Beach Baths) was demolished in the early 1990s.”

Coney Island Boardwalk east of West 33rd Street showing the Lincoln Baths in the foreground, 1924. Eugene L. Armbruster Collection, New York Public Library

How did it happen that land once occupied by bathhouses patronized by working class New Yorkers is destined to become luxury beachfront apartments? The Washington Baths site, which Thor Equities bought from Horace Bullard for $13 million, was flipped to Taconic for an exorbitant $90 million because both parties were sure the City would rezone it for residential.

Taconic Investment Partners plans to build a glittering city of 2,500 apartments and 200,000 square feet of retail west and north of MCU Park. According to Taconic’s website: “The North Venture consists of three city blocks on the North side of Surf Avenue totaling nearly 109,000 square feet. One block from the beach, these parcels include vacant or under-improved land. Coney Island South Venture encompasses 5.5 acres on the south side of Surf Avenue, interspersed over four blocks along the beachfront, and is also comprised of vacant or under-improved land totaling nearly 240,000 square feet.”

As Taconic CEO William Bendit told Eliot Brown of the New York Observer in an interview in 2009: “What attracted us to Coney Island was the fact that it’s vacant land—we didn’t have to dispossess anybody, relocate anybody. And it’s the beachfront. How much beachfront land is there in New York City? Not only that, but beachfront land that’s accessible to the subway. So, if you think about it, how many young people, or anybody, for that matter, would like to commute into New York or Brooklyn, and go home at night and live on the beach?”

What would it take to make you move to the new Coney Island?

Coney Island Aerial: Detail of Conceptual Rendering. CIDC Press Kit

Coney Island Aerial: Detail of Conceptual Rendering Shows Residential Towers West and North of MCU Park. CIDC Press Kit

Bring Back the Whip! A Birthday Gift for William F Mangels

Posted in Amusement ride, tagged Coney Island, Coney Island History Project, Knoebels, The Whip, Trimper's, William F Mangels on February 1, 2011| 18 Comments »

Mackie 'Rides' the Whip Car at the Coney Island History Project. May 22, 2010. Photo © Coney Island History Project via flickr

This Mangels’ Fairy Whip car is one of our favorite artifacts in the Coney Island History Project’s exhibition center. It was manufactured circa 1920 at William F. Mangels Factory on 8th Street in Coney Island, which is now the Department of Motor Vehicles Building. Mangels, who was the inventor of such early 20th century thrill rides as the Whip and the Tickler, is one of the amusement industry pioneers honored in the Coney Island Hall of Fame.

But if you want to ride the Whip, you’ll have to take a trip to Rye Playland, Knoebels, Kennywood, Trimper’s or any one of the other parks or carnivals listed on ATZ’s Whip Census. This video pays tribute to Mangels, who was born on February 1, 1867, and shows the Whip in action at Knoebels.

Last February we marked the birthday of William F Mangels with a pictorial tribute to his shooting gallery targets. This year we’re proclaiming Bring Back the Whip! It’s a shame that Coney Island, where this classic ride was invented, doesn’t have an operating Whip. Patented by Mangels in 1914, the Whip was one of the first and most popular thrill rides. Old timers tell us there used to be quite a few Whips as well as quite a few carousels and roller coasters in good ol’ Coney Island. Wouldn’t it be fitting to have a Mangels Whip installed in Steeplechase Plaza next to Mangels’ B & B Carousell?

Painted Buckets: Scene at Trimpers: The Whip - one of the antique mini rides for the little kids. March 27, 2010. Photo © OC Always via flickr

A couple of years ago we started the Whip Census with the help of our friends on Matt’s Carnival Warehouse forum. We were surprised and pleased to find so many Whips out there! As you’ll see from the list, which we believe is far from complete,the ride is still very popular. And it’s nice to know there are still some traveling ones since the Whip is considered the first portable thrill ride. If you know about additional locations, including rides in storage, please comment below or email hello[at]triciavita[dot]com. Perhaps one of these Whips can be relocated to Coney Island in the future!

Parks

Americana/LeSourdsville Lake Park, Monroe, OH. 8-car Whip added in 1941. Park has been closed since 2002.

Beech Bend Park, Bowling Green KY, Kiddie Whip bought at Guntown Mt sale, originally from Beech Bend and returned home.

Bushkill Park, Easton, PA. Park is currently closed

Camden Park, Huntington, WV, 8-car model

Canobie Lake Park, Salem, NH, 8-car oval Kiddie Whip

Cedar Point, Sandusky OH, Kiddie Roto Whip

Dorney Park, Allentown, PA, 12-car model

Hillcrest Park, Wilmington, IL, Roto Whip. Park closed and ride was sold at auction in 2003.

Idlewild Park, Ligonier, PA. 12-car Whip added in 1930s. It now has fiberglass cars.

Keansburg Amusement Park, NJ, Roto Whip

Kennywood Park, West Mifflin, PA, 1918: The Whip is added. 1923: Kiddie Whip is among the first four rides in Kiddieland. 1926: The original 12-car Whip is replaced by a new 16-car model. 1975: Kiddie Whip is destroyed in Dance Hall (Ghost Ship) fire. A vintage miniature Whip from Massachusett’s defunct Paragon Park replaced it.

Kiddieland, Melrose Park, IL, 1949 Roto-Whip. Park closed & rides auctioned in 2009. Whip purchased for $11,500 by Jeff Kimble, an antiques collector and restoration specialist who has a private, 30-acre indoor park in Loganville, Ga.

Kings Island, Mason, OH, Kiddie Whip

Knoebels, Elysburg, PA, Whip from Croops Glen in Hunlock Creek PA moved to Knoebels in the 40s or 50s. Knoebels also has a Kiddie Whip (Oval).

Lakeside Park, Denver, CO

Lakeside Park, Fond du Lac, WI, Roto Whip

Magic Forest, Lake George, NY, Roto Whip

Midway State Park, Bemus Point, NY, Roto Whip

Pocono Mt Go Kart Play Park, Marshall’s Creek, PA, Roto Whip

Rye Playland, Rye, NY, 12-car model

Stricker’s Grove, Ross, OH, Kiddie Whip

Sylvan Beach Amusement Park on Oneida Lake, NY, Roto Whip and one or two other Mangels pieces.

Trimper’s Rides, Ocean City, MD, Fairy Whip for kids (indoors)

Twin Grove Park & Campground, Pine Grove, PA