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Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island’

Gargiulo’s Russo Brothers to Open Italian Fast Food on Surf Avenue

Posted in Food, Real Estate, tagged Coney Island, Gargiulo's, Italian food, Joe Vitacco, north side of Surf, Russo brothers, Surf Avenue on May 19, 2015| 1 Comment »

Vacant since Sandy, 1315 Surf Avenue will be the site of an Italian fast food restaurant. The Shore Theater building next door, owned by the Bullard family, has been vacant for 40 years. May 13, 2015. Photo © Tricia Vita

What’s new on the north side of Surf, the mecca for franchises in Coney Island? At 1315, where Cha Cha’s relocated from the Boardwalk until calling it quits after being devastated by Sandy, a permit has been taken out for interior renovations. A new eatery is going there and thankfully it won’t be another franchise or chain.

The Russo Brothers, owners of Gargiulo’s, which is Coney Island’s bastion of fine dining, are planning to open a fast food Italian restaurant, according to Anthony Russo. Pizza, veal parm and fried calamari will be among the offerings Russo told ATZ. No opening date has been set, but construction is expected to get underway as soon as permits have been approved.

Gargiulo’s Way, West 15th St between Surf and Mermaid Avenues, Coney Island. November 16, 2014. Photo © Tricia Vita

The Russo brothers own the building as well as the adjacent one where tenants include Piece of Velvet Bakery and Rita’s Italian Ice on the corner of 15th Street. In 2007, West 15th Street between Surf and Mermaid Avenues was designated Gargiulo’s Way to mark the 100th anniversary of Gargiulo’s Restaurant. Founded by Gus Gargiulo and owned by the Russo family since 1965, the Coney Island landmark at 2911 West 15th offers classic Neapolitan cuisine.

According to broker Joe Vitacco, who leased the storefronts to Rita’s and Piece of Velvet, there are very few remaining vacant spaces for lease on the north side of Surf. At 1223 Surf Avenue, he has 2,100 square feet on the first floor and 5,000 square feet plus 1,900 square foot terrace on the second floor and 4,000 square feet rooftop dinning for $45-$50 per square foot.

The first floor of that address next to Stillwell Terminal was also leased to a Johnny Rockets (6000 sf) and Red Mango (2.000 sf) franchisee in 2012, but construction has been delayed by new and ever-changing post-Sandy building regulations. Among the stores Vitacco is offering are 1,450 square feet at 1019 Surf Avenue next to the new Subway Cafe and across the street from Luna Park.

Summer Reading: Undertow by Michael Buckley

Posted in Books, Reading & Writing, tagged book review, books, Coney Island, Michael Buckley, summer reading, Undertow, Undertow Trilogy, YA novel on May 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

In Michael Buckley’s gripping new YA novel Undertow, Coney Island is a dystopia known as “the Zone, the DMZ and Fish City.” Its famed amusement parks and Mermaid Parade are long abandoned. The neighborhood has been fenced off from the rest of New York City and turned into a militarized zone since a warrior race of sea people called the Alpha swam ashore and raised a tent city on the beach.

The book’s narrator is Lyric Walker, a feisty 16-year-old Coney Islander who is thrust into the spotlight when her high school is opened to six Alpha teens. A movie version of the story would be a dream job for a make-up department: “Many have scales. Others have jagged rows of teeth, and mouths like open wounds,” Lyric says of the Alpha students who have to be escorted past violent protestors by soldiers, cops and FBI agents. “One of them is a teenaged mountain of power, a slightly smaller version of the giant warriors who led the way. He has sunken eyes and tiny spikes on his neck, shoulders and forearms.” There’s also a girl with gelatinous skin through which her veins and bones can be seen and a golden god with a bruised face and serrated knives that pop out of his arms.

The golden god is the Alpha prince Fathom, who does battle nightly on the beach with his father’s challengers and wears his bruises like trophies. A mutual attraction develops between the charismatic prince and Lyric when the principal assigns her to be his tutor and meet with him privately every day. When their meetings incur the wrath of the xenophobic governor, the safety of Lyric’s family, who have been harboring a secret from their friends and neighbors, is put in jeopardy.

Lyric Walker is an engaging protagonist, as are the other characters in the book, including her parents, making it a great summer read for both teens and adults. Undertow climaxes with an epic battle on the beach in which Lyric literally learns to make waves. Readers rooting for a human-Alpha romance will be happy to know this is the first novel of a trilogy.

In an interview, Buckley says that Undertow took its inspiration from a refugee crisis that made headlines last year. Tens of thousands of children fled Central America and came to the U.S. where they were imprisoned while elected officials called for electrified fences at the border, similar to the ones in his novel. The Brooklyn resident’s best-selling middle grade series the Sisters Grimm and NERDS have sold more than four million copies and appear in 22 languages.

On Tuesday, May 19, BookCourt at 163 Court Street in Brooklyn is hosting an author reading, audience Q & A and book signing at 7pm.

Undertow by Michael Buckley. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. Hardcover, $18.99

Coney Island 2015: Red Doors Bar & Grill Opens on North Side of Surf Ave.

Posted in Food & Drink, tagged bar, Coney Island, Red Doors Bar & Grill, restaurant, Surf Avenue on May 14, 2015| 2 Comments »

Coney Island’s new Red Doors Bar & Grill opened its doors for drinks for the first time on Wednesday. ATZ sampled a raspberry lemonade (minus the vodka) from their cocktail menu. Restaurant consultant Gina Weinstein has put together a new menu and “cool, tattooish” decor mixing industrial design with posters of old Coney Island for this space on Surf Avenue near West 12th Street. Unlike many of the recently opened or soon-to-open eateries in Coney Island, it’s neither a chain nor a franchise! Red Doors’ owner Oleg says he expects the restaurant will open Memorial Day weekend.

Menu selections include fresh baked pretzels with spicy beer mustard, pulled pork sliders, chicken quesadilla, buffalo chicken spring rolls, Caesar salad, a variety of burgers, fries, beer battered onion rings, and donuts made to order.

For vegetarians, there’s veggies and hummus: “Balsamic grilled asparagus, red pepper, portobello, carrots, purple cabbage, roasted red pepper hummus. served with warm tortillas.”

The new Mom & Pop joins Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, Applebee’s, Subway Cafe, Dunkin Donuts and Surf 12 Nightclub on the north side of Surf. IHOP, Checkers and Johnny Rockets franchises are under construction.

This location at 1205 Surf Avenue was formerly Bratva Bar and Coney Island Bar & Grill, which closed last year.