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Winter’s First Snow in Coney Island by Bruce Handy

Posted in amusement park, Photo Album, Photography, tagged Boardwalk, Bruce Handy, Coney Island, Luna Park, snow, Wonder Wheel Park on January 26, 2013| 10 Comments »

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

It’s about time it snowed! In past years, ATZ has posted Bruce Handy’s first snow of the season photos in December and once in October during the weather event known as Snowtober. “I was on the beach near the water earlier about 5, when I felt the wind shift, all the seagulls took off, the snow front had arrived,” says the Coney Island resident and photographer, who took this series of photos on Friday night. His elongated shadow appears on the snowy boardwalk in the photo above.

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

On the roof of Paul’s Daughter, Papa Burger looks out at the sparkly boardwalk and the silent and motionless rides of Luna Park and Wonder Wheel Park. Luna Park’s colorful Balloon Expedition, seen below, looks like a sugar coated confection.

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

“The snowflakes were very light, very silvery, and it was not cold,” says Bruce Handy, who only saw one other person on his photowalk. “Timeless feeling when it snows, like a dream, you can imagine the rides running packed with people.”

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

The 12th Street side of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park is illuminated by vintage light fixtures made by amusement ride manufacturer William F. Mangels, whose factory was once on 8th Street in Coney Island. The park’s vintage kiddie fire engines and pony cart rides were made there.

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

“And as I’m walking, I’m having a future memory of how this spot will be in the future, the B&B Carousell music playing,” says Bruce Handy of this shot of the Parachute Jump and the new pavilion for the antique carousel, which will open this season. “When I’m in the falling snow, I lose all sense of time, could be years, could be seconds.”

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

Snowy midway in Wonder Wheel Park and wintry Cyclone! In just 56 days –March 24, 2013– the wheel will spin and the roller coaster will go for its first run of the season.

Coney Island: Winter’s First Snow. January 25, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

Video of the Day: Coney Island Song of the Silent Snow

Posted in video, tagged 2010, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Jonathan Pineau Bonetti, Polar Bear Club, snow, snowstorm on January 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Friday’s forecast of snow showers with accumulations of less than an inch makes us feel nostalgic for the snowstorms of past years. Jonathan Pineau Bonetti shot “Coney Island Song of the Silent Snow” in Coney Island and Brighton Beach on Christmas Weekend 2010. That was the year the Polar Bears, who appear in the film, got a snow swim as a Christmas present! Time to bring in the snow machines?

Occupy Sandy’s New Warehouse in Coney Island Landmark

Posted in News, tagged Brooklyn, Childs Building, Childs Restaurant, Coney Island, helpavists, local, Occupy Sandy, volunteer, warehouse on January 24, 2013| 1 Comment »

Twitter Page for Occupy Sandy’s Warehouse in Coney Island

Last week, Occupy Sandy said goodbye to 520 Clinton Street as their main distribution center and opened a warehouse in the basement of the landmarked Childs Building in Coney Island’s amusement area. Helpavists, as Occupy Sandy calls volunteers, pumped flood water out of the basement, which was still there two and half months after Sandy. They proudly took their first delivery of supplies: 600 gallons of water on 22 pallets from City Harvest.

Located on 21st Street, the site is steps away from the Parachute Jump and across the street from where the Seaside Summer Concerts are held in the summer and school buses park during the winter months. Unlike the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew in Clinton Hill, the Coney Island warehouse is not open to the public: “@OSWarehouse is NOT a public hub but a decentralized warehouse. Please visit http://www.occupysandy.org & @SandyRegistry to support our efforts!”

According to the Coney Island page on Occupy Sandy’s website: “In Coney Island, the main volunteer hub that we are working out of is across the street from 2828 Neptune Ave. We are currently organizing volunteering events on certain days – but the location is not open regular hours. So, in order to volunteer to help with canvassing and supply distribution in Coney Island, please register as an Occupy Sandy volunteer and we will send you emails when volunteering events are scheduled in Coney Island.”

Designated a New York City landmark in 2003, Coney Island’s terracotta palace by the sea has been boarded up for the past few years after being enlivened by the Mermaid Parade Ball and Lola Star’s Dreamland Roller Rink. The rink operated rent-free on the Boardwalk side of the property for two years until 2010, when the high cost of insurance caused leaseholder Taconic Investment Partners to shutter the space. In August, there was news that the City planned to develop the building and an adjacent lot into an entertainment complex for Borough President Marty Markowitz’s Seaside Summer Concerts, but an official announcement has yet to be made.

UPDATE September 26, 2013:

The City’s plan to convert the former restaurant into an amphitheater for live concerts is now working its way through City Planning and the City Council approval, though it was voted down by the community board. “Clock Ticking on Plan for the Landmark Childs Building,” ATZ, September 25, 2012.