OPening Day | Amusing the Zillion

Posts Tagged ‘OPening Day’

Target the Coney Island Arcade Cat Is On Twitter!

Posted in Animals, Coney Island, tagged amusement rides, cats on twitter, Coney Island Arcade, Coney Island History Project, Cyclone, OPening Day, Target the Cat, Wonder Wheel on March 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Target the Coney Island Arcade Cat on Opening Day 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Coney Island’s 40 rides and diverse attractions start up again for the 2010 season in just one day! Since we work in Coney, it’s been so hectic getting ready for opening day that we haven’t had a minute to blog. Not so with Target the Coney Island Arcade Cat…

Our favorite cat has started microblogging as ConeyICat via twitter! But he has quite a ways to go before he catches up with Sockington, a Massachusetts cat with 1.5 million followers! Please follow Target if you are on twitter. His latest tweet:

Coney Island Arcade & Games open on Sunday too! http://bit.ly/bXBgAA We need players to have winners--That means YOU!
— ConeyIslandArcadeCat (@ConeyICat) March 27, 2010

Target the Coney Island Arcade Cat Has Something to Say... Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Also opening on Sunday…Coney Island’s Cyclone Roller Coaster, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park (22 rides), McCullough’s Kiddie Park (a dozen rides), 12th St. Amusements (Polar Express and 4 other rides) and the Eldorado Bumper Cars.

The annual Blessing of the Rides is set for 11:00 am at Deno’s Wonder Wheel. Then at 12 noon, Borough President Marty Markowitz will break a bottle of homemade egg cream on the Cyclone’s first car as the Hungry March Band toot their horns in celebration. The first 100 people to arrive to the party will ride the Cyclone for free. The Coney Island History Project on Surf under the Cyclone will host an Open House from 12-3 pm. Free admission to one and all!

For more info on what’s open in Coney Island and a listing of upcoming events, sign up for the Coney Island Fun Guide newsletter or follow them on twitter.

See you tomorrow, March 28th at 12 noon?

Manny Cohen of Coney Island Arcade with his World-Famous Cat Target. © 2010 Manny Cohen. All rights reserved

Photo of the Day: Getting the Cash Registers Ready to Ring in Coney Island

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged Coney Island 2010, OPening Day, Paul's Daughter on March 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Rafael Refurbishing the Cash Register at Paul's Daughter in Coney Island. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Paul’s Daughter, Coney Island’s iconic Boardwalk food stand, is open year round, weather permitting, and has the same delicious fries as when it was called Gregory & Paul’s. When we went by late one day last week, the stand was closed but Rafael and another employee were busy refurbing the cash registers for the new season. Workers at the Cyclone Roller Coaster, seen in the background) and Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park were also busy getting ready for opening day, which is now just a dozen days away!

Coney Island’s 40-plus rides and diverse attractions open for the season on Palm Sunday, March 28th. The next weekend, Easter Sunday, is historically one of the biggest days of the season. Easter ranks right up there with Mermaid Parade Day and the Fourth of July. Coney’s new Luna Park, with 19 rides from Zamperla, is scheduled to open on the former Astroland site on Memorial Day Weekend. We’re hoping for great summer weather and the best season in a long time.

May the cash registers ring like crazy in Coney Island in 2010!

Coney Island’s Opening Day, April 5, 2009

Posted in Coney Island, Events, tagged Coney Island, Jones Walk, OPening Day on April 10, 2009| 1 Comment »

Boy wins his first prize of the 2009 season at Water Race Game on Jones Walk

Palm Sunday is the traditional season opener for Coney Island’s rides and attractions. Strolling along Jones Walk to Gregory & Paul’s on the Boardwalk for a beer after work took forever. Our group of Coney Island regulars had to stop and cut up jackpots with every game operator. I got to take lots of pictures along the way.

Coney Islands Jimmy Prince plays Skin the Wire on Jones Walk

After his first day as “Distinguished Historian” at the Coney Island History Project’s exhibition center under the Cyclone, Jimmy Prince tried his luck at Jones Walk’s Skin the Wire game. In February, Mr Prince retired from Mermaid Avenue’s Major Market, Coney Island’s oldest butcher shop, after 60 years.

When my friends sat down at the picnic table on the corner of the Bowery, I ran off to find Target, the Coney Island Arcade Cat. Manny the arcade owner said, “Maybe he’s on the ride.” He didn’t mean riding the ride, just hanging out. We were looking around the Super Shot when the cat trotted out from the arcade and jumped on the counter of the Balloon Dart. That’s where he works! Target, the Official Mascot of the flickr group Coney Island is Alive and Kicking and Welcomes Visitors in 2009! had his photo in the NY Times yesterday! He’s famous now, but it hasn’t changed him one bit. I took lots of pix of him on Coney Island’s opening day. This one is my favorite…