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Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island’

Burned Coney Arcade Building Finally Being Demolished

Posted in Amusement Game, Demolition, Real Estate, tagged arcade, Coney Island on April 29, 2011| 4 Comments »

Water-damaged arcade machines were removed from the burned ruins of the building and put into a compacter. April 28, 2011. Photo © Eric Kowalsky via Amusingthezillion.com

Almost one year after the fire on May 5, 2010 that ravaged the Coney Island Arcade, the burned ruins of the building at West 12th Street and the Bowery are being prepped for demolition. On Thursday, Coney Island photographer Eric Kowalsky took these photos of the water-damaged arcade machines being removed and disposed of in a compacter. Charred pieces of wood were put in a dumpster. The now empty remains of the building are expected to be demolished next week.

One year after the fire that destroyed the Coney Island arcade, a dumpster was moved in front of the burned ruins of the building, which is finally being demolished. April 28, 2011. Photo © Eric Kowalsky via Amusingthezillion.com

As previously reported in “Coney Island Arcade Debuts Cobra, Braves Loss of Arcade” (ATZ, April 13, 2011), arcade owner Manny Cohen continues to manufacture and distribute arcade machines under the Coney Island Boxer brand. He also operates games on the Bowery, but there’s space for only a handful of arcade machines as you can see in the photo below. The Coney Island Rumor Mill is saying that Jeff Persily, the owner of the building, has no plans to rebuild. But we certainly hope the empty lot gets rented out for something amusing this season. The arcade building is adjacent to Thor Equities’ empty lot at Surf Ave and 12th Street, where the Bank of Coney Island and game concessions stood for decades until last year’s demolitions by Thor.

The Coney Island Arcade's new Cobra and a few other games can be found on the Bowery. April 2, 2011. 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

We’re sad to report that if Cohen is unable to find another location, his 12th Street arcade will join the ranks of Coney’s lost arcades. Among the arcades that have closed due to the redevelopment of the past few years are Astroland’s three arcades and the Fascination arcade in the now-demolished Henderson Building. Coney Island’s last remaining arcades are located in Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park and the Eldorado on the Bowery.

Last summer, Foster Kamer wrote a piece in the Village Voice titled “The Five Best Video Arcades in the City.” Two of the three–Coney Island Arcade and Chinatown Fair–are now closed.

Skee Ball at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park Arcade, Coney Island. April 24, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Photo of the Day: Denny’s Ice Cream & Eldorado Auto Skooter

Posted in Amusement ride, Food & Drinks, Photography, tagged Bumper Cars, Coney Island, ice cream shop, Surf Avenue on April 28, 2011| 8 Comments »

Denny's Ice Cream & Eldorado Bumper Cars at Night. April 24, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Two of Coney Island’s longtime family-owned businesses are next-door neighbors on Surf Avenue. ATZ happened to get this shot of their colorful marquees at dusk on Easter Sunday.

The Eldorado, Coney Island’s Disco Palace of Bumper Cars, opened in 1973 and is owned by Sandy and Sheila Fitlin. You can read about the history of the Eldorado in an interview that we did with their son Scott Fitlin last year.

Denny’s Dennis Corines has owned and operated the ice cream shop since 1968. Specialties include fresh crispy popcorn, candy apples and pistachio-banana soft serve.

Coney Island 2011: Free Movie Screenings on the Beach

Posted in Events, film, tagged Coney Island, free event, Movies on the Beach, Rooftop Films on April 27, 2011| 2 Comments »

Rooftop Films outdoor movie screenings include such venues as the roof of El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem. Photo © Dillon DeWaters via Rooftop Films

UPDATE… JULY 9, 2012… The 2012 season of Coney Island Flicks on the Beach began on July 2 and continues on Monday nights through August 6. The schedule includes Bound for Glory featuring David Carradine as Woody Guthrie, Woody Allen’s Manhattan, and Jim Henson’s The Muppets. Full schedule at “Coney Island 2012: Free Movie Screenings on the Beach” (ATZ, July 9, 2012).

Rooftop Films, a nonprofit which has been showing underground films outdoors in New York City since 1997, will bring free movie screenings to Coney Island’s beach this summer. The Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC), NYC & Company and EpixHD are partnering with Rooftop to launch the new Coney Island Film Series.

Lela Scott-MacNeil of Rooftop Films tells ATZ that the Coney Island screenings will be free of charge and the program is being put together especially for the new venue. “It is not part of our regular summer series,” said Scott-McNeil. When details of the Coney Island program are announced, ATZ will post an update.

Rooftop’s 14th Summer Series of “Underground Movies Outdoors” includes 25 feature films and over 150 short films in themed programs. Screening venues include Fort Greene Park, Socrates Sculpture Park and the roofs of Brooklyn Tech, El Museo del Barrio and Brooklyn Grange in Long Island City. According to Rooftop’s website: “We couple films with venues, and connect artists with audiences so that each event is unique and memorable.”

A tip of the hat to our friend Brian Hedden of the South Brooklyn blog BK Southie, who wrote in January, “Dear Luna Park, make this happen, movies at the beach.” Today he says: “Hey, I’m glad someone was listening back when I was begging for beachside movies!” ATZ urges BK Southie and everyone else to keep the ideas coming for event programming in Coney Island. Your idea could turn out to be the next new thing! We also ask our readers: What movies would you like to see on the big screen at Coney Island’s beach?

UPDATE, May 16, 2011…

NYC & Co. announced the schedule for the new film series today. Coney Island Flicks on the Beach will be shown on Monday nights at sundown on the beach between W 10th and W 12th Streets. The series begins on July 11 with Saturday Night Fever. Here’s the full schedule…

July 11 - Saturday Night Fever (1977)
The ’70s disco-kid flick stars a young John Travolta in an Oscar-nominated performance as Tony Manero, a Brooklyn teen who works a dead-end job and suffers from “night fever,” but knows how to boogie it off. The film is famously set in NYC, largely in the now-closed Bay Ridge disco 2001 Odyssey.

July 18 - Rango (2011)
This animated comedy-western follows Rango (Johnny Depp), a domesticated lizard, as he stumbles upon a town in the Old West and winds up becoming sheriff, only to brave a rattlesnake showdown.

July 25 – Top Gun (1986)
Revisit the time when Tom Cruise was Maverick, a too-cool-for-school Navy fighter pilot recruit, fueled by the need for speed. The hit film celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

August 1- Iron Man 2 (2010)
Now that the world knows the double identity of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) as the armored superhero, everyone wants the Iron Man technology. Stark refuses to hand it over. But the evil Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) has built his own weapon to retaliate.

August 8  – Annie Hall (1977)
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton star in this romantic comedy as a neurotic yet charming New York couple who fall in love after an awkward meeting, flirt in Central Park, argue over lobsters in the Hamptons and, eventually, split.

August 15  – Moonstruck (1987)
Cher plays Loretta, a widowed, 30-something Brooklyn bookkeeper who, while indifferently engaged to Johnny (Danny Aiello), falls for her fiancé’s estranged brother, Ronny (a young, hairy and angry Nicolas Cage).

August 22  – Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011)
Watch the Biebs prepare for his first sold-out show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. This documentary is titled for his song and mantra: “Never Say Never.”

August 29  – How She Move (2008)
After her older sister dies suddenly, a talented teen flubs her chance at a private-school scholarship and moves back home to her family’s crime-ridden neighborhood. But after she earns a spot on a respected step crew, she discovers how her dance skills can deliver the future she dreams of.

When the weather is iffy, check the Coney Island tweeters on Coney Island Fun’s list for updates here.