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Amusing the Zillion’s Top 10 Coney Island Videos of 2012

Posted in film, video, tagged Alan Jackson, Amy Nicholson, Charles Denson, Dave Pentecost, Jay Singer, Jim McDonnell, Parachute Jump, Top Ten Videos on December 28, 2012| 2 Comments »

The most popular videos posted on Amusing the Zillion in 2012 include a music video by a country star, new films by Coney Island photographers Charles Denson and Jim McDonnell, two films that premiered at festivals in 2012 and rediscovered footage from Coney’s past.

Coney Island is a long way from Nashville, but in December 2011 country singer Alan Jackson was spotted filming a music video on the Boardwalk. Released in January, this poignant ballad about the end of a love affair had the very likeable Jackson singing “I’ll be the SOB, if that’s what you need from me. So you don’t have to love me anymore.” The shuttered stores and lonely beauty of Coney Island on a December day suit the lyrics, which are sorrowful yet defiant, in the way that the best country songs often are. (“Music Video: Alan Jackson’s So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore,” ATZ, January 13, 2012)

Coney Island historian Charles Denson’s 10-minute film of “Climbing the Parachute Jump” was released in January via his “Coneyologist” Channel on YouTube. Featuring video footage by Seth Kaufman and his own exquisite photos, Denson’s film captures the fulfillment of his boyhood dream to once again see the view from the top. “I grew up a few blocks from the Jump and have documented it since it closed,” he writes. “When the city decided to dismantle and renovate the Jump ten years ago, my engineer friend Seth Kaufman had the only copy of the original plans. The city needed them so we made a deal: We got to climb it legally.” (“Video of the Day: Climbing Coney Island’s Parachute Jump,” ATZ, January 18, 2012)

ATZ found this spoof of Robin Leach’s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous from an early Conan O’Brien Show in which comedian Andy Richter and actor Abe Vigoda travel to Coney Island on a rainy day in December 1994. “Come join the stars as they escort Andy Richter to their wonderful weekend getaways on Runaway with Andy,” Leach says in the intro. He describes Coney as “a sleepy island of exotic delight.” You’ll catch glimpses of such vanished attractions as Faber’s Sportland Arcade, the Thunderbolt roller coaster, Hell Hole, Jumbo Jet, the Zipper ride, and a food trailer called Trashy Trudy’s Goodeating. (“Blast from the Past: Andy & Abe Tour 1994 Coney Island,” ATZ, February 9, 2012)

“Coney Island Lights” by photographer and self-described “footage guru” Jim McDonnell is lyrical and bewitching thanks to masterful editing by McDonnell, who knows Coney Island and has a talent for distilling its essence into a short film. Watch for Luna Park’s Air Race ride, the dancing lights of the landmark Cyclone and Wonder Wheel, and the blinking red eye of the Spook-A-Rama Cyclops (“Video of the Day: Coney Island Lights by Jim McDonnell,” ATZ, July 8, 2012)

This is the trailer for Amy Nicholson’s Zipper: Coney Island’s Last Wild Ride, the award-winning new documentary about the rezoning and redevelopment of Coney Island. “A small-time ride operator and his beloved carnival contraption become casualties in the battle over the future of Coney Island” is the film’s capsule description. Eddie Miranda’s Zipper represents all of the mom-and-pops who were displaced by the real estate speculation that was set off by the Bloomberg administration’s plan to rezone Coney Island. ATZ reviewed the film when it premiered at DOC NYC in November. (“Film Trailer: Zipper, Coney Island’s Last Wild Ride,” ATZ, July 26, 2012)

ATZ happened to come across this raw footage shot in early 1960s Coney Island from the collection of Anthology Film Archives. The clip above titled “Coney Island – Night – Silent work-print” has atmospheric scenes of a grand carousel, amusement games and Nathan’s packed with people. The “Steeplechase Carousel” was on the Boardwalk at 16th Street and according to a reader, its frame and some of the Illions horses are likely part of the Flushing Meadows carousel today. (“Video of the Day: Raw Footage of 1960s Coney Island,” ATZ, August 27, 2012)

Posted on Labor Day, “Coney Island Dancing 2012″ opens with the legendary Tony Disco before segueing to the legendary dancing mannequin known as “Miss Coney Island.” For the past two seasons, photographer and film editor Jim McDonnell has released an annual video of the season’s best dance moves on the Boardwalk and the Polar Express and at Luna Park, Wonder Wheel Park and the Mermaid Parade and Ball. Here are links to his dance vids from 2010 and 2011 in case you missed ’em. Party on!(“Video: Coney Island Dancing 2012 by Jim McDonnell,” ATZ, September 13, 2012)

“Gotta Love Coney Island” by Brooklyn native and Coney Island regular Jay Singer is frenetic and hypnotic. It was one of the films in ATZ’s “5 Coney Must-Sees at the Coney Island Film Festival”, where it premiered in September. “It is 275 separate scenes at various speeds composited into a ‘one reel’ experimental film,” Jay told ATZ. “The goal was to capture the ‘pulse’ of Coney Island on a busy day, with intercuts of vintage footage filmed by my grandfather alongside contemporary footage of my own.” (“Video of the Day: Gotta Love Coney Island by Jay Singer,” ATZ, September 25, 2012)

Coney Island History Project director Charles Denson rode out Hurricane Sandy in Sea Gate where his apartment flooded up to the windows and his car floated away. He posted this dramatic video footage of Sandy making landfall at Sea Gate on October 29th. (“Photos of the Day: Devastation at Coney Island’s Sea Gate,” ATZ, November 1, 2012)

Set to “I Remember Coney Island,” a 1981 recording by the Lounge Lizards, Dave Pentecost’s Coney Island Time Lapse features footage shot in the summer of 2012 of the Wonder Wheel, Brooklyn Flyer and other amusement rides in action. “This circular fisheye video is intended to be projected in the digital dome in the new Lower Eastside Girls Club community science and art center,” says Pentecost. (“Video of the Day: Coney Island Time Lapse by Dave Pentecost,” ATZ, December 3, 2012)

Photos of the Day: Coney Island Street Dunes by Jay Singer

Posted in Photo of the Day, Photography, tagged Army, beach, Coney Island, Hurricane Sandy, Jay Singer, sand dunes, United States, US Army Corps of Engineers on November 25, 2012| 1 Comment »

W 15th Street Dunes, Coney Island. November 25, 2012. Photo © Jay Singer

During Hurricane Sandy, Coney Island’s beach lost two to three feet of sand. Windblown sand covered the boardwalk and adjacent streets, burying the kiddie rides and parking meters. Volunteers spent days sweeping and shoveling it back where it belonged. Over the weekend, the ~~Parks Department~~ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed West 15th Street and created temporary sand dunes from the Boardwalk to Wonder Wheel Way, and they are still adding sand. It looks like a movie set. Somebody should make a movie before these dreamlike street dunes disappear. “The sand was all trucked over from the huge sand dunes the storm created at the foot of Ocean Parkway,” says Coney Island photographer and filmmaker Jay Singer, who snapped a series of surreal photos. “Fresh clean sand, to be redistributed back onto the beach.”

Parachute Jump and Street Dune. Coney Island. November 25, 2012. Photo © Jay Singer

UPDATE November 27, 2012:

More info on the street dunes via today’s post on the U.S. Army’s official homepage! According to the update, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contracted crews have been working 12-hour night shifts to clear up the sand blown by Sandy onto Coney Island’s streets. In Army parlance, the West 15th Street dunes are a TSS –temporary storage site — and since Saturday over 230 trucks carried an estimated 4,600 cubic yards to the TSS.

To date, the Army Corps has moved an estimated 32,000 cubic yards of sand, the equivalent of roughly 12 Olympic-size swimming pools, out of Coney Island neighborhoods to nearby Jacob Riis Park, a temporary collection site currently used for holding Sandy-related debris.

Last week though, Riis was nearing its capacity for sand placement. In order to avoid any delays to cleanup, the Army Corps decided to establish a temporary storage site, or TSS, at West 15th Street on Coney Island. The site is located directly adjacent to the amusement park, home to such landmarks as Nathan’s Hotdogs and the Cyclone rollercoaster. With the street blocked off, the Army Corps has set up a scissor lift in order to scan trucks.

The article says the sand will eventually be returned to area beaches by the city’s Department of Environmental Protection after being inspected for public safety. In the meantime, instead of referring to Coney’s 15th Street dunes as a “TSS,” how about calling them a “TTA” – Temporary Tourist Attraction!

Related posts on ATZ...

November 1, 2012: Photos of the Day: Devastation at Coney Island’s Sea Gate

October 31, 2012: Photo Album: Hurricane Sandy’s Aftermath in Coney Island

October 29, 2012: Photos of the Day: Hurricane Sandy Approaches Coney Island

September 25, 2012: Video of the Day: Gotta Love Coney Island by Jay Singer

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Video of the Day: Gotta Love Coney Island by Jay Singer

Posted in amusement park, film, video, tagged Coney Island Film Festival, Gotta Love Coney Island, Jay Singer on September 25, 2012| 2 Comments »

One of the films in ATZ’s “5 Coney Must-Sees at the Coney Island Film Festival” is now on YouTube after premiering over the weekend. “Gotta Love Coney Island” by Brooklyn native and Coney Island regular Jay Singer is frenetic and hypnotic. If you’re at work, you may want to adjust the volume before watching. The soundtrack is Faith No More’s “Woodpecker from Mars.”

Scenes of the filmmaker being catapulted into the sky in Scream Zone’s Slingshot are intercut with vintage footage of Steeplechase Park’s Parachute Jump and Human Pool Table. “It is 275 separate scenes at various speeds composited into a ‘one reel’ experimental film,” Jay told ATZ last week. “The goal was to capture the ‘pulse’ of Coney Island on a busy day, with intercuts of vintage footage filmed by my grandfather alongside contemporary footage of my own.” “Gotta Love Coney Island” is dedicated to Scott Fitlin, the operator and DJ extraordinaire of the Eldorado Bumper Cars, which appears at the beginning of the film.