Coney Island | Amusing the Zillion

Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island’

Photo of the Day: Coney Island Children’s Halloween Parade

Posted in Events, News, Photo of the Day, tagged children's event, Children's Halloween Parade, Coney Island, Coney Island USA, Domenic Recchia, Halloween, Halloween costume, Luna Park on October 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Kids in Costume including ‘Lily’s Arcade” for last year’s Coney Island Children’s Halloween Parade, October 27, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita

This year’s Coney Island Children’s Halloween Parade, a free event for kids up to 15 years of age, is on Saturday, October 26th. The festivities begin at 11am at MCU Park, with magicians, live music, face-painting and costumed characters like Sandy the Seagull and Nathan’s Frankster. The parade will march down the Boardwalk to Luna Park, where registered participants will receive a 4-hour Luna Park wristband and other goodies. The registration form is available here [pdf].

ATZ snapped the above photo of “Lily’s Arcade,” one of the cutest costumes at last year’s parade, but never got to post it since prep for Hurricane Sandy began the next day and Halloween was cancelled in the storm’s aftermath. This year’s 4th annual parade is hosted by Coney Island City Councilman Domenic Recchia, Jr. and the Alliance for Coney Island. The event is produced by Coney Island USA, with the Chief Justice of the Mermaid Parade, Mark Alhadeff, overseeing the Halloween Costume Contest at 12 noon.

The Coney Island parade reminds us of the early days of the now ginormous, 40-year-old Village Halloween Parade. Founded in 1974 by puppeteer Ralph Lee as a Halloween activity for children from the Westbeth Artists Community, where Lee lived, the charming little parade used to wend its way from Bank Street to Washington Square Park, while a small audience of neighborhood residents watched from the curb. Oh, yes, those were the days!

The weekend of October 26 and 27 is also the final spin of the 2013 season for the rides at Coney Island’s amusement parks– Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, Luna Park (including the Cyclone roller coaster) and Scream Zone– which open at 12 noon. Happy Halloween!

Photo of the Day: Swinging on the Wonder Wheel

Posted in Amusement ride, Photo of the Day, Photography, tagged Coney Island, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company, Swinging Car, Wonder Wheel on October 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Sign for Swinging Car, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, Coney Island. September 12, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

Swinging or Stationary? Most people reply “Swinging” when asked which type of car they wish to ride on Deno’s Wonder Wheel, which has 16 swinging cars and 8 stationary ones. This holiday weekend may be your last chance to experience the roller coaster-like thrill this season before the landmark wheel, built in 1920 by the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company, closes for annual maintenance. The Wheel is open from 12 noon on Sunday and Columbus Day. The photo of the swinging red car was of course taken from one of the stationary cars, which go higher and are our favorite for taking pictures.

Check out “Coney Island Always: Visiting the Big CI Year-Round” for info on what’s open in October.

Update: The Wheel will stay open weekends through October 27 along with the rest of Coney Island’s rides.

Red Car, Wonder Wheel. Coney Island. September 12, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

September 13, 2013: Coney Island Always: Visiting the Big CI Year-Round

March 19, 2013: First Sign of Spring in Coney: Cars Go up on Wonder Wheel

September 30, 2010: Video: The Wanted’s Lose My Mind at Coney Island’s Wonder Wheel Park

September 4, 2010: Go Up, It’s Great! Coney Island’s & Deno’s Wonder Wheel

Read Full Post »

Art of the Day: Creepshow at the Freakshow Is Back

Posted in art, Events, tagged Al Capone, Coney Island, Coney Island Criminals, Coney Island USA, Dick Zigun, Halloween, Harvard Inn, Marie Roberts, Scarface, theater on October 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Artist Marie Roberts, whose sideshow banners adorn Coney Island USA’s facade, painted this one for Creepshow at the Freakshow in 2004. ATZ snapped this photo last October, but never got to post it or review the play since it was cancelled the very next day due to Superstorm Sandy! This year’s Creepshow, titled “Coney Island Criminals,” is opening this weekend, and Marie’s banner, which survived the storm, is once again in the window on Surf Avenue beckoning passersby to stop and buy tickets.

Written and directed by Dick Zigun, the interactive play takes its inspiration from an episode in the early career of Al Capone. The gangster got his nickname “Scarface” in 1917 after getting slashed at Coney Island’s Harvard Inn where he worked as a bartender/bouncer. More of Marie Roberts art will be seen in the show, including a painting of an Ivy League rowing club and the logo of Yale University’s secret society Skull and Bones, which is beguiling considering that the Harvard Inn was owned by a gang boss known as Frankie Yale and Dick Zigun is a Yale School of Drama grad.

The play also features CIUSA outside talker Scott Baker as Jimmy Durante, who got his start playing piano in Coney Island. Set design is by Kate Dale, the Juilliard prop shop supervisor and veteran “Best Mermaid” who has been the Creepshow’s designer for the past eight years. Since the Harvard Inn burned down long ago and even Seaside Walk, the street it was on, is no more, being in the audience at “Coney Island Criminals” and possibly getting hit in the face with spaghetti or made into the mob is as close as you’ll get to this place.

Coney Island USA, 1208 Surf Ave. Corner of Surf Avenue and West 12th Street, Coney Island. Creepshow at the Freakshow runs from October 11 through Halloween. Check website for days and showtimes. Tickets are $15 in advance or at the door.