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Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island’

Men in Black 3 Rescues Coney Island’s Oldest Building

Posted in film, tagged Coney Island, Grashorn Building, Hooray for Hollywood, Jones Walk, Men In Black 3 on April 10, 2011| 7 Comments »

Thor Equities Vacant & Shuttered Grashorn Building. August 15, 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

We’re singing “Hooray for Hollywood, that phony super Coney Hollywood”! Not only is Men in Black 3 filming in Coney from May 2 through 6, they’ve leased Coney Island’s oldest building, the Grashorn, from Thor Equities and rescued it from oblivion. A construction crew is already fixing up the gutted interior of the building located at Surf and Jones Walk to use as their location headquarters.

Men In Black 3 stars Will Smith as Agent J traveling back in time to 1969 to stop a villain from killing a young Agent K played by Josh Brolin. According to the storyline, if the killing were carried out in the past, it would result in the destruction of Earth in the present. The production company is giving some of the buildings on Surf Avenue, Jones Walk and the Bowery a 1960’s look, including retro signage. At least one concessionaire on the Walk has plans to keep the look through the summer. Filming will also take place on the Boardwalk and in Wonder Wheel Park.

On the Bowery: Target the Cat and Jimmy Waiting for Their Close-ups. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Jimmy, the Balloon Dart operator on the Bowery, is among the Coney Islanders who have been cast as extras. No word yet on whether Target the World-Famous Coney Arcade Cat has been hired for a walk-on. There was a casting call last week for “1969 New Yorkers (hippies, beatnik poets, ’60s celebrity look-a-likes, bikers, models, etc…), people who are less than 4′10 or more than 6′5, plus-sized people, and men and women with character faces.” Last year, the website joblo reported that ’60s era celebrities like Yoko Ono, Jimi Hendrix and Andy Warhol would appear in the film as aliens. The script has gone through a lot of changes. Filmed in 3-D, Men in Black 3 is set to be released on May 25, 2012.

As for the Grashorn, the fact that it’s getting rehabbed by the movie company has the Coney Island Rumor Mill saying it will be rented out afterward to game concessionaires. In Coney Island: Lost and Found, historian Charles Denson writes that the building at 1104 Surf dates back to the 1880’s and the Grashorn hardware store served Coney Island’s amusement businesses for more than 60 years: “The clapboard façade, dormers, cast iron resting, chimneys and fish-scale shingles were removed when the building was renovated in the 1980s but the mansard roof retains its shape.” Here’s a photo of the way the building looked in 1969. Will it look like this again when Men in Black 3 travels back in time next month?

Grashorn Building in 1969. Photo © Charles Denson via Coney Island History Project

Over the past two years, the Grashorn Building has fallen victim to squatters, blight and burst water pipes. Sideshow operator John Strong as well as two different arcade owners tried but failed to lease the space from Thor. The building remained shuttered and vacant during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In January, one of Thor Equities’ omnipresent “Stores for Lease” banners went up on the Grashorn Building.

UPDATE April 25, 2011:

Photo op! Booths and signs for the Men in Black 3 set started going up today on the beach side of Coney Island’s Boardwalk. Madame Zava Phrenology and a Balloon Dart have already been set up. Jones Walk and the Bowery are also expected to get some retro signage. Since the film shoot isn’t scheduled till May 2nd, you’ll be able to travel back to 1969 if you come to Coney Island next weekend!

Made in Coney: TV Commercial for Bonomo Turkish Taffy

Posted in Food, video, tagged Bonomo Turkish Taffy, Coney Island, TV commercial, vintage candy on April 6, 2011| 15 Comments »

This vintage TV commercial for Bonomo Turkish Taffy stars a precocious little boy who eats the taffy as he rides Coney Island’s carousel, Parachute Jump and Thunderbolt roller coaster! The commercial, which was filmed in the late 1940s, has made a comeback along with the beloved candy bar.

Invented in the 1940s by the Bonomo family and manufactured on 8th Street in Coney Island, the candy was a favorite of baby boomers. But the brand, which came to be owned by the Tootsie Roll Company, was discontinued in 1989. Last year a Pennsylvania candy factory licensed by Bonomo’s new owner Kenny Wiesen began making the Turkish Taffy once again.

On the candy’s Facebook page, fans recall the ritual of slamming the bar against a table to crack it into pieces and then savoring each bite-sized piece. Gary Nomer, the former Bonomo plant manager in Coney Island, told Fortune Magazine the flavor is near the original. “Vanilla is pretty close, strawberry and banana are in the ballpark.”

Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy is available online and in vintage candy stores. If you still have a candy store in your neighborhood!

Thor’s Coney Island: Joe Sitt Scores Puff Piece in NY Times

Posted in Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged BK Festival, Coney Island, flea market, Joe Sitt, New York Times, Thor Equities on April 5, 2011| 12 Comments »

Thor Equities Festival by the Sea on Opening Day. May 22,2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Like it or not, and some Coney Island businesses don’t like it at all, “NYC LARGEST FLEA MARKET WITH A FESTIVAL STYLE! [sic]” is on the verge of getting permits to open Aqueduct’s answer to Thor’s flopped Flea by the Sea in Coney. ATZ learned that Will McCarthy, the event organizer of the “BK Festival,” who already applied for a Temporary Place of Assembly Permit from the DOB, will meet with City officials on Thursday in hopes of speeding along necessary approvals from the FDNY and DEP. Sources say a meeting with the Brooklyn Borough President to discuss the festival’s plans is also on this week’s schedule.

We were about to post this news when an article by Liz Robbins in today’s NY Times caught our eye: “With Its Move to Coney Island, Flea Market Is Sprucing Up.” The news that the festival management is set to sign a lease with Joe Sitt and is adding “some lace and frills to dress up” the flea concept is no surprise. What’s surprising is that the NY Times has done a puff piece on Joe Sitt’s adventures in Coney Island.

The Bumper Boats and other amusements thrived on this very location until Joe Sitt evicted them in 2007 to create his empty lots. Hooray for redevelopment! May 29, 2005. Photo © the hanner via flickr

“It’s a little nostalgic — I started my businesses as a flea market operator at the Aqueduct,” says Sitt. The reporter glosses over the fact that Sitt evicted amusements from this Coney Island property: “[Sitt] has razed some older buildings, angering some in the community, but the festival space on Stillwell was already vacant.” Actually this property is in a C-7 amusement zone where an amusement park with batting cages, go karts, bumper boats and mini golf thrived until Joe Sitt bought the land in 2006. He evicted the amusement operators to “allow the new development to proceed in a timely manner,” but has built NOTHING there except a failed flea market in 2009. (“Thor’s Coney Island: What Stillwell Looked Like Before Joe Sitt,” ATZ, March 3, 2010)

As for the Flea, the reporter takes Sitt’s word for it that his Flea by the Sea model was successful. “Two years ago, when the Aqueduct gaming project seemed imminent, [Sitt] recruited vendors, from pickle makers to bakers, alongside entertainers for a monthlong stint in Coney Island. The results convinced him the model would work.” What entertainers? The only entertainers that we observed were local bands onstage and a clown making balloon animals for kids. In fact the flea was widely considered a flop. For starters, look at our flickr set or comments from the disillusioned baker in Lifestyler Magazine.

Thor Equities idea of entertainment at the flea market was a band playing two sets. Photo by me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

Thor Equities idea of entertainment at the flea market was a band playing two sets. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Now back to our regularly scheduled post. The proposed locations for the flea’s “OVER 100,000 SQUARE FEET OF SHOPPERS DELIGHT!” are Thor Equities lots on both sides of Stillwell, where the disused tent frames from the 2009 flea remain. Thor’s lot on West 15th Street would also be activated. Although Coney Island’s C-7 amusement zoning (more on that later) does not specifically allow flea market use, it does allow temporary use for a fair. Thor’s Festival by the Sea aka Flea by the Sea in 2009 had such a permit.

The BK Festival website was taken offline last week after all the media hoopla about the flea market. It promised “All Day Entertainment, International Food Court and Kidz Zone, Pony Ride, and Rides.” ATZ left a voice mail message for the management asking for more info about the rides. We haven’t heard back yet.

UPDATE…10:20 am. We received an email from Will McCarthy, Event Director of BK Festival: “I wanted to reach out to you, as I know you have many concerns about our proposed project. I wanted to arrange a time when we can meet & discuss in detail all the wonderful family attractions we plan to bring to Coney Island this season. For the record BK Festival which will function like a state fair, comes to the new Coney Island with an array of colorful family experiences some of which includes – Monthly culturally themed activities, Interactive Sponsored Activities, Free Give Aways, Equestrian Center with pony rides & petting zoos, Live Entertainment (Concerts, Car Shows, Rodeos) International Food Court and our Outdoor Shopping Experience.” ATZ looks forward to bringing you a Q & A with the BK Festival Director in the coming days!

Cached version of BKFestival.com website as it appeared on Mar 29, 2011

Are there any amusement parks in America that boast a flea market? A web search turned up a handful of defunct parks, including Williams Grove in Mechanicsburg, PA, which now host flea markets. A Yelper wrote: “Last time I was there I overhead a little boy whose comment to his dad really summed up the place best. ‘They closed down the park and turned it into a yard sale.'” On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Colorado’s Mile High Marketplace, a huge flea, farmers and antiques market with a few amusement rides. Coney Island, the birthplace of the amusement industry, is in a class by itself. Yet it’s become the guinea pig for Joe Sitt’s retail-by-the-sea aspirations.

Over the weekend, ATZ talked to a few Coney business operators to find out their opinion of the market. Ride and game operators said that it’s better than having empty lots. They preferred to have amusements, which would stay open late and draw crowds rather than a flea market that will be dark at night. In Coney Island, the crowd comes late and stays late, often till 2 am. But amusement operators seemed resigned to the fact that Thor wasn’t about to bring in a carnival again. In the years leading up to the rezoning, Sitt brought in Reithoffer Shows, Geren Rides and other temporary amusements.

Some business owners who sell food or souvenirs in Coney and pay high rent are worried that the flea vendors will undercut them with bargain basement prices and cheap merchandise. Parking is also a major concern. Will the vendors, who come early, take up the parking spaces ordinarily used by visitors? Paid parking is available for $10-$20 at the Aquarium and MCU, but it can be a traffic jam on weekends. The BK Festival website promises “Free Shuttle Bus Drives Tourist Traffic To Event.”

Summer 2009: At Thor Equities Flea by the Sea, "Tons of Fun" = Lots of Schlock. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

At Thor’s Flea by the Sea, stands selling clothing and shoes were a reminder that in April 2009 Sitt’s pitch book unsuccessfullly used to lobby BP Markowitz for 10,000 square feet retail touted flagship retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap/Banana Republic, and DSW (“Thousands of shoes…prices you love”). Was the flea market part of a strategy to win a variance from a future administration for 10,000 square foot retail?

And this brings us back to Coney Island’s C-7 Zoning. We’ve appended the complete list of Use Groups A, B, and C below since most people snooze at the thought of looking at a zoning document. “A1” is for Amusements and is of course our fave. Use Group C is Retail. It’s a little tricky to figure out how “OVER 100,000 SQUARE FEET OF SHOPPERS DELIGHT!” is permitted when Sitt failed to win 10,000 square foot retail and “Use Group C uses shall be limited to 2,500 square feet of floor area and 30 feet of street frontage, except that on corner lots one street frontage may extend up to 100 feet.” Oh, but this is a Temporary Fair. And how many years will that be? Until Joe Sitt develops the property or sells it.

Tops $5 Each. Vendors at Thor Equities Flea Market, Coney Island. June 6, 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

There’s also…

(b) Bowery and Wonder Wheel Way

“At least 50 percent of Bowery and Wonder Wheel Way street frontage of any zoning lot shall be occupied by Use Group A1 use at the ground floor level, and not more than 50 percent of the Bowery and Wonder Wheel Way street frontage of any zoning lot shall be
occupied by Use Group C uses at the ground floor level.”

(d) Stillwell Avenue and West 10th Street
“At least 15 percent of the Stillwell Avenue and West 10th Street street frontage of any zoning lot shall be occupied by Use Group A1 uses at the ground floor level.

Use Group A1…Amusement arcades; Amusement parks, with no limitation on floor area per establishment; Animal exhibits, circuses, carnivals or fairs of a temporary nature; Camps, overnight or day, commercial beaches or swimming pools;Dark rides, electronic or computer-supported games, including interactive entertainment facilities, laser tag and motion simulators; Ferris wheels, flume rides, roller coasters, whips, parachute jumps, dodgem scooters, merry-go-rounds or similar midway attractions; Fortune tellers, freak shows, haunted houses, wax museums, or similar midway attractions; Miniature golf courses and model car hobby centers, including racing; Open booths with games of skill or chance, including shooting galleries and Water parks

Use Group A2…Arenas or auditoriums, with capacity limited to 2,000
seats; Billiard parlors or pool halls, table tennis halls or bowling alleys, with no limitation on number of bowling lanes per establishment; Gymnasiums or recreational sports facilities, including but not limited to indoor golf driving ranges, batting cages, basketball, volleyball, squash and other courts, without membership requirements; Skateboard parks, roller or ice skating rinks;Theaters, including movie theaters, provided such use does not occupy the ground floor level of a building, except for lobbies limited to a maximum street frontage of 30 feet, except that on corner lot one street frontage may extend up to 100 feet.

Use Group B: Amusement and entertainment-enhancing uses…
Art gallery, commercial; Banquet halls;Breweries; Eating or drinking establishments of any size, including those with entertainment or dancing; Historical exhibits; Spas and bathhouses;Studios, art, music, dancing or theatrical;Tattoo parlors; Radio or television studios; Wedding chapels

Use Group C: Retail and service uses

Arts and crafts production and sales, including but not limited to ceramics, art needlework, hand weaving or tapestries, book binding, fabric painting, glass blowing, jewelry or art metal craft and wood carving; Bicycle sales, rental or repair shops;Bookstores; Candy or ice cream stores; Clothing or clothing accessory; Clothing, custom manufacturing or altering for retail, including costume production and hair product manufacturing; Delicatessen stores; Fishing tackle or equipment, rental or sales; Gift shops; Jewelry manufacturing from precious metals; Musical instruments store; Music stores; Newsstands Patio or beach furniture or equipment; Photographic equipment stores and studios; Sporting goods or equipment, sale or rental, including instruction in skiing, sailing or skin diving; Toy stores