Coney Island | Amusing the Zillion

Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island’

Photo of the Day: The Weekday View from Ruby’s Bar

Posted in amusement park, Food & Drink, Photo of the Day, Photography, tagged Boardwalk, Coney Island, Ruby's Bar on October 3, 2012| 2 Comments »

View of the Coney Island Boardwalk from Ruby’s Bar. September 28, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

When we dropped by Ruby’s Bar on Friday, the sun was shining and then there was a sudden shower. Pretty soon the sun was shining again. A group of friends from Chicago, Florida and North Carolina led by a Bushwick native who’d brought them to see his Coney Island popped in for drinks. They posed for a souvenir snapshot in front of Ruby’s wall of photos.

Melody, who opens Ruby’s around 10:30 am, says weekdays bring tourists from all over the world. Most of them ask why the rides aren’t open, but others are seeking rarer sights: “A group from Sweden came in the other day looking for the Elephant Hotel,” Melody said. They were more than a century too late to see the elephantine colossus, which burned down in 1896, but Coney Island is still worth a visit on an autumn day.

Coney Island’s beach and boardwalk and surviving landmarks– the Parachute Jump (Brooklyn’s Eiffel Tower), the Wonder Wheel, the Cyclone and the terra cotta palace that was Childs Restaurant–are always ready for their close-ups. After Labor Day, the rides and attractions at Coney’s amusement parks are on a weekend and holiday schedule. This week, the rides will spin for five days in a row, weather permitting. Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, Luna Park, Scream Zone and the Cyclone will be open beginning on Wednesday for the start of the Sukkot holiday through Columbus Day.

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Photo of the Day: Last Dance With Miss Coney Island

Posted in amusement park, Photo of the Day, Photography, tagged automaton, Coney Island, dancing doll, Miss Coney Island on September 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The Dancing Doll Miss Coney Island. August 28, 2012. Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

If you haven’t danced with Miss Coney Island yet, there are only a few weeks left before our friend goes to winter-quarters. On weekends, you’ll find her standing behind a window on West 12th Street across from the Steeplechase coaster. It costs “25 cents to fall in LOVE” and “25 cents to smile,” say the signs, but quarters don’t pay the rent in Coney Island. The dancing doll depends on income from Skin the Wire and neighboring games of skill to get by. Bring a whole roll of quarters with you!

The Dancing Doll Miss Coney Island. August 28, 2012. Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

Astrotower Lit for 1st Time Since Astroland Closed in 2008

Posted in amusement park, News, Photography, tagged Astro Tower, Astroland, Astrotower, Bruce Handy, Coney Island, Luna Park on September 28, 2012| 3 Comments »

Illuminated Astrotower and Luna Park Gate, Coney Island. September 27, 2012. Photo © Bruce Handy

Last night, Coney Island photographer Bruce Handy was surprised to see a sight that hasn’t been seen since Astroland Park closed forever on September 7, 2008. The Astrotower, which has been standing but not operating since before the park closed, was illuminated. It makes us happy to see it lit! Bruce speculates that Luna Park technicians were testing the electrical hookup for future lighting of the tower. We wonder if they will light it for the park’s Halloween Horror Nights, which begin in mid-October. In the close-up shot below you can see they are using the bare bulbs that originally lit the tower and have not installed LEDs. Why has it taken so long?

Ever since Luna Park was built on the former Astroland site in April 2010, there’s been talk of Zamperla repurposing the tower as signage or possibly restoring it as a ride. Since nothing was done, the 270-foot observation tower got rusty and started to look like a neglected stepchild amid the glittering new rides on the skyline. Earlier this month, when a similar tower at Cedar Point was imploded, a fan on Luna Park’s Facebook page asked if the Astrotower would have the same fate. The answer was reassuring: “The Astrotower is going to stay up for posterity,” according to an official post on Luna Park’s Facebook. “It’s an historic ride. Luna Park will re-paint the ride, but it will no longer take guests up to give them views of Coney Island.”

According to the Coney Island History Project, the $1.7 million Astrotower was manufactured by the Swiss company Von Roll and installed in 1964. “It required a foundation of 1,100 tons of concrete and 13 tons of steel reinforcing bars. Like Astroland’s other space-age themed rides, the tower was built specifically for the park.” The Municipal Art Society and Save Coney Island have said the structure is eligible for the State and National Registers. We’d love to be able to ride the Astrotower once again. If that’s not in the stars, let’s hope it will be refurbished and illuminated like Steeplechase Park survivor the Parachute Jump.

UPDATE September 29, 2012

This evening, Luna Park confirmed on their Facebook page that the tower will be illuminated, but not reactivated as a ride. “Our electricians are testing the lighting system as we finalize plans to paint and rewire parts of the tower. The Astrotower will not operate as a ride – instead it will provide Coney Island with a spectacular, night-time extravaganza. Look to the Coney Island skies for some exciting new developments in 2013…”

It’s great news that the once proud and now forlorn looking tower will be a bright spot on the skyline of the new Coney Island. The painted and illuminated Astrotower will compliment the bling-y lights promised for the Parachute Jump in Steeplechase Plaza, which is set to open next season.

At the same time, we’re not buying the statement that “The Astrotower will not operate as a ride.” Perhaps it should be qualified with the two words “in 2013”? It’s hard to believe that Zamperla, one of the world’s largest ride manufacturers, can’t come up with a plan to reactivate the tower as a ride. Is it a matter of money or current priorities? In 2014, the tower will be 50 years old. The only question is when the Luna Park Astrotower opens, will the Zamperlas be serving bagels and lox as Jerry Albert did when the ride known as the bagel in the sky because of its circular car debuted in Astroland?