Coney Island | Amusing the Zillion

Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island’

If Paris Is France, Coney Island, between June and September, Is the World

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Coney Comeback, Coney Island, Coney Island is the world, George C Tilyou, If Paris is France, mural, quote, Sandy on June 1, 2013| 1 Comment »

Mural Detail at New York Aquarium, Coney Island Boardwalk. May 27, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

“If Paris is France, then Coney Island, between June and September, is the world,” wrote George C. Tilyou in 1886, when he was 24 and worked in his father’s Surf Bathing Pavilion. Eleven years later, he created Steeplechase Park, the first of Coney’s world-famous amusement parks. On June 1, 2013, in this summer of Coney’s comeback from Superstorm Sandy, Tilyou’s quote is truer than ever. Enjoy your summer — hope to see you in Coney Island!

It’s Loo-ney: Bathroom-Themed Water Race Game Comes to Coney Island

Posted in Amusement Game, video, tagged Bob's Space Racers, Coney Island, Jones Walk, Luna Park, Stinky Feet, water race game on May 28, 2013| 1 Comment »

Luna Park’s Stinky Feet Water Race Game, Jones Walk. Coney Island. May 27, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

People walking along Surf Avenue near Luna Park are apt to do a double-take when they pass Jones Walk. Six toilet seats have been bolted into the pavement in front of the first concession booth! Insert joke about Coney Island’s new, very public restrooms here. The row of open-air loos could easily be mistaken for the real thing but the toilet lids don’t open. The new fixtures are part of Stinky Feet, a multi-target water-race game with guns that are replicas of bathtub faucets and seats that look like toilets. The game opened on Jones Walk over Memorial Day Weekend. Here’s a video that we made of the water race in action:

Manufactured by Whac-A-Mole creator Bob’s Space Racers, Stinky Feet has been a big hit at amusement parks since it debuted three years ago. The game is one of several family-friendly new games installed by Luna Park on the east side of Jones Walk, where last year’s attractions were destroyed by flood waters from Superstorm Sandy.

Luna Park’s New Games on Jones Walk. Coney Island. May 27, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

A Portrait of Abe Lincoln on Coney Island’s B&B Carousell

Posted in Amusement ride, historic preservation, history, tagged Abraham Lincoln, B & B Carousell, B&B Carousell, carousel, Coney Island, Jimmy McCullough, Luna Park, MC Illions, NYCEDC on May 26, 2013| 6 Comments »

Illions Horse on the B&B Carousell, Coney Island Photo via Luna Park NYC Facebook

The lead horse on the beautifully restored and just reopened B&B Carousell is a rare steed. Sumptuous detailing on its trappings includes a relief of Abe Lincoln and the Coney Island carver‘s signature “Built by MC Illions.” According to carousel historian Marianne Stevens, the horse was carved in 1909, the same year the Lincoln penny was issued, in honor of the Centennial of Lincoln’s birth. It was one of four Lincoln horses carved by Illions for various carousels and the only one remaining on a working carousel. Stevens says the other jumper is on display at the New England Carousel Museum and the whereabouts of the two standers is unknown.

Lead Horse ‘Built by MC Illions’ on the B&B Carousell, Coney Island. May 24,2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

The horse is the only one of the B&B’s 50 horses carved by Illions, who developed the Coney Island style of carving. The rest are the work of Charles Carmel, another master carousel carver who also emigrated from Russia and worked in Brooklyn. How did the Illions horse come to be part of the B&B Carousell? It is thanks to Jimmy McCullough, whose family operated four historic carousels in Coney Island which are now in New York City’s parks.

One of them was the Stubbmann Carousel, known as the Steeplechase Carousel when the McCulloughs operated it at 16th Street and the Boardwalk. It was sent to the New York World’s Fair in 1964 along with some horses from Feltman’s and still operates in Flushing Meadows Park. When the Stubbman closed, James McCullough and his son Jimmy each chose a horse to keep, according to Stevens. Jimmy chose the Lincoln jumper which is now on the B&B, a carousel that he operated since the 1970s and sold to the City in 2005 after the death of his business partner Mike Saltzstein.

Illions Horse on the B&B Carousell, Coney Island Photo via Luna Park NYC Facebook

The other Coney Island carousels that are part of the McCullough legacy are the 1908 Stein and Goldstein Carousel brought to Central Park from the trolley terminal at W 5th and Surf Avenue and the 1912 Charles Carmel Carousel in Prospect Park that operated at 8th Street and Surf. Last year, McCullough’s Kiddie Park, the family’s last remaining business in Coney Island, closed after a 50 year run.

Thanks to Coney Island photographer Bruce Handy, and Luna Park, which operates the B&B Carousell in the new Steeplechase Plaza, for their photos of the MC Illions horse.