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Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island’

Video: Coney Island: Secrets of the Universe by Charles Denson

Posted in film, video, tagged Astroland, Brooklyn, Charles Denson, Coney Island, Redevelopment, Secrets of the Universe on January 27, 2011| 6 Comments »

Historian Charles Denson’s “Coney Island: Secrets of the Universe” is both eloquent and enigmatic. When the six-minute short premiered at the Coney Island Film Festival in September, the program notes read: “Coney’s iconic cosmology comes into play when a mysterious crypto-governmental force seeks domination of the island. Secrets of the Universe probes Coney Island’s hyper-mythological role in fantasy, neo-symbolism, and the infinite!”

At the film fest screening, someone asked us if the opening scenes of the Marine helicopters landing on Coney Island’s beach were real. Yes, indeed! Gorgeous shots of the Astroland Rocket and Burger Boy atop Gregory and Paul’s (now Paul’s Daughter) roof, Astroland, the Astrotower, Wonder Wheel and Parachute Jump are prominently featured. We’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to decipher the secrets of this universe.

Photo of the Day: Henderson Music Hall Cats Now Homeless

Posted in Animals, Redevelopment, tagged Coney Island, feral cat, Toby Project, urban cat on January 26, 2011| 2 Comments »

Henderson Music Hall Cats, Coney Island. January 22, 2011. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

In September, ATZ wrote about a gray cat who was the last tenant of Thor Equities-owned Henderson Building after the humans had been evicted. We soon realized the cat was part of a colony of similar looking gray cats living in the former music hall.

There’s a contingent of cat lovers who put out food and water for them and the rest of Coney Island’s feral, stray and abandoned cat population. Coney Island photographer Bruce Handy took this picture on Saturday. Now that the building has been demolished, the Henderson Music Hall cats are homeless. Where will they find shelter on this snowy day in Coney Island?

For info on helping feral cats, visit the websites of the New York City Feral Cat Initiative and the Toby Project. Last year, the Toby Project was one of the few animal rescue groups performing spay/neuters of feral cats in Coney Island.

Thor’s Coney Island: Coney’s Oldest Building for Lease

Posted in Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged Coney Island, for lease, Grashorn Building, Jones Walk, oldest building, Thor Equities on January 21, 2011| 3 Comments »

Stores for Lease: The Grashorn, Coney's Oldest Building. January 20, 2011. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

One of Thor Equities’ omnipresent “Stores for Lease” banners went up yesterday on the Grashorn Building. Thanks to Coney Island photographer Bruce Handy for stopping by and taking these photos last evening. The banner caused excitement as peeps realized it meant that Coney Island’s oldest was not going to be demolished after all! Not this season anyway. But will it be leased? We’d really like to hope so, though potential tenants’ efforts to lease the building last year fell through. ATZ knows a couple of people who have already expressed interest. Get your bid in now!

For the record, Thor Equities never got a demolition permit for the Grashorn. ATZ first noticed this in August when the demo permits for the now demolished Bank of Coney Island, the Shore Hotel and the Henderson Music Hall were first issued. We never mentioned it because by then not calling attention to the Grashorn seemed the best way to protect the building.

Why was Coney Island’s oldest building granted a reprieve? Unlike the Bank of Coney and the Henderson, the Grashorn parcel at Surf Ave and Jones Walk was not rezoned for a 30-story high rise hotel. There’s also the fact that the building is just a few doors away from Luna Park’s entrance. And there’s also the fact the City owns the east side of Jones Walk and leases it to game concessions. The demolition of the Grashorn would have created a desolate empty lot near the City’s showcase amusement park and killed business on the Walk. Hey maybe the Mayor said to Joe, no demo?

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.”