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Coney Island Ride Count: Veteran Ride Ops 40, Joe Sitt 10!

Posted in amusement park, Amusement ride, tagged Coney Island, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Joe Sitt, Kiddie Park, rides, Thor Equities on June 4, 2009| 2 Comments »

The Wonder Wheel....Go Up...It's Great! Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

This post was written in 2009. For updated info, please see most recent ride census from April 2011: “Coney Island Has 64 Rides and 30 Weekends of Summer!”

* * * * *

Yesterday a teller at my bank said she thought Coney Island had been redeveloped into a flea market with just a few rides. Where’d she get that idea? Joe Sitt’s cartoonish “Festival by the Sea” subway posters. Some of the search terms being used to find ATZ have been “What rides are left at Coney Island?” and “Are the rides and games open at Coney Island?” When people hear that Astroland closed, they mistakenly think ALL of Coney’s rides have closed. I went around and did a ride count last weekend (May 30-31). The numbers may surprise you.

THE GOOD NEWS

Coney Island currently has a grand total of 50 operating rides, That’s right FIFTY RIDES. Pretty good for a place that’s rumored to have closed. Forty rides are owned and operated by longtime Coney ride ops Cyclone Coasters, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, McCullough’s Kiddie Park, 12th Street Amusements and Eldorado Skooters.

On real estate speculator Joe Sitt’s property, there are currently 10 rides of the “more than 25 fun-filled rides” promised by Thor Equities in an April 2 press release.

A carousel under construction on May 25 is one of 10 rides in Thor Equities "Dreamland Park." Photo © me-myself-i/ Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

Sitt’s pr team hasn’t said a word about rides lately, but the Coney Island Rumor Mill is abuzz with rumors of everything from coasters to kiddie rides being on the way. ATZ will keep you posted if and when more rides do arrive in Sittland East aka “Dreamland Amusement Park,” which is a work in progress.

If you want to see the full list of Coney Island’s 50 rides, Click here for the second part of my post, “What rides are open at Coney Island?”

STARTLING STATS

When you break down the current ride count, forty (40) rides are owned and operated by Coney’s veteran ride owners on land that is NOT owned by Joe Sitt or Thor Equities. Sitt is the largest property owner in Coney Island, with 80% of the land in the amusement district in Thor Equities investment portfolio. Yet two months after Coney’s opening day of the season, Sitt has mustered only ten (10) carnival rides for his so-called Dreamland Amusement Park. McCullough’s Kiddie Park, which occupies a tiny piece of land at the Bowery and 12th Street, has squeezed more rides onto their site than Joe Sitt has in all of Coney Island. The score is McCullough 12, Sitt 10. Or Veteran Showmen 40, Predatory Real Estate Speculator, 10. If this were a ball game, the showmen would win!

McCullough's Kiddie Park in Coney Island has 12 rides. Photo © me-myself-i/ Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

The “dozens of amusement rides” ballyhooed by Thor’s pr firm Knickerbocker SKD in their April 2 press release later dwindled to the promise of “25 rides and attractions” and “upwards of 25 rides”. Obviously Thor Equities picked the number “25” to say, see you’re not missing anything, we’re replacing the evicted Astroland’s old rides with an equal number of new rides.

The startling fact is that last year during Thor Equities “Summer of Hope” (May 22-June 2), Sitt had 52 rides on all of his Coney Island properties. This year, he has only 10. This means Coney Island is down 42 rides from last year during the same time period.

On Sitt’s property on the last weekend of May 2008:

52 rides including

Astroland – 24 rides (Palm Sunday- Sept 7)

Reithoffer Carnival – 18 rides (May 22-June 3)

Geren Rides – 10 rides (May 22- mid-July)

On Sitt’s property on the last weekend of May 2009:

“Dreamland Amusement Park” 10 rides

This year Thor has come up very short. Instead of spending huge amounts of money on the tents and advertising for his flopped Festival by the Flea, oops I mean Festival by the Sea, Sitt should have bought rides and set them up on the property, which is zoned for amusements. A batting range, go karts, bumper boats, mini-golf and other popular amusement attractions thrived here before Joe Sitt bought the property and bulldozed them in 2007 to deliberately create his empty lots and the opportunity for a zoning variance.

“What rides are open at Coney Island?”

Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park has 22 rides. In addition to the legendary Wonder Wheel and Spook-A-Rama dark ride, adult rides include the Thunderbolt, Bumper Cars and Tilt-A-Whirl. The Kiddie rides are the Dizzy Dragons, Mini Enterprise, Willie the Whale, Fire Engines, Pony Carts, Jets, Free Fall, Boats, Carousel, Flying Elephants, Jumping Motorcycles, Pirate’s Pond, Red Baron Airplanes, Big Foot Trucks, Rio Grande Train and Sea Serpent Roller Coaster.

Mangels Pony Cart Ride at Deno's Kiddie Park, Coney Island. Photo © me-myself-i/ Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

McCullough’s Kiddie Park has 12 kiddie rides on the Bowery at 12th Street. The rides are the Bumblebeez, Ferris Wheel, Carousel, Swings, Motorcycles, Yellow Submarine, Dizzy Dragons, Himalaya, Ladybug, Frog Hopper, Circus Train and Tug Boat.

Thor Equities new “Dreamland Park” (former Astroland property) has 10 rides. Adult rides are the Himalaya, Spin Out, Ring of Fire, Scrambler, Trabant and Star Dancer. Kiddie rides are the Carousel, Dragon Wagon, Kid Country and Drive In.

The world famous Cyclone Roller Coaster is a city owned landmark and continues to be operated by the Alberts, the former owners of Astroland Park (Surf Avenue at 10th St)

Erik Knapp, the Cyclone's first rider on opening day, April 5, 2009. Photo (c) Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

The one and only Eldorado Skooters is a family owned business at Surf Ave between Stillwell and 12th St.

Eldorado Bumper Car Crew. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

Another family business 12th Street Amusements has 4 adult rides including the Polar Express, Bumper Cars, Saturn 6 and Ghost Hole.

The Polar Express. Photo © me-myself-i/ Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

AUG 5 2009 UPDATE: Coney Island Has 56 Rides and 33 More Days of Summer!

Memorial Day Weekend Mania: Thor Equities Coney Flea In-Fest-ation Is a Flop

Posted in News, Redevelopment, tagged Coney Island, Coney Island Redevelopment, Festival by the Sea, flea market, Joe Sitt, Thor Equities on May 27, 2009| 1 Comment »

Opening day at Thor Equities huge tentless structure on west side of Stillwell behind Nathan's. An equally huge and empty structure stands on the east side of the street. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

Before I start my tirade against Joe Sitt’s Memorial Day desecration of Coney Island’s C-7 amusement district, if you’re wondering “Are the rides and games open at Coney?” the answer is YES! The REST of Coney Island–Boardwalk and beach, rides, games, sideshows, food, drinks– is alive and kickin’! Thor Equities does NOT own the entirety of Coney Island, though you’d never guess it from the Sitt-centric Festival by the Sea posters in the subway.

The May 15 grand opening of Joe Sitt’s flea market was postponed due to threat of bad weather on a sunny day, but on Memorial Day Weekend the rescheduled less than grand opening took place under the open sky. Last weekend’s “Closed due to threat of bad weather” sign was replaced by one that read “Pardon our Appearance while we adjust our tents.” Translation: The City’s DOB is requiring that the tents and structures be able to withstand hurricane force winds before issuing a C of O.

Pardon us until we get our C of O from the DOB. Photo by me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

Pardon us until we get our C of O from the DOB. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Despite Thor Equities much vaunted $250K advertising campaign with full-page ads in the New York Post, Time Out New York, AM New York, plus subway advertising and Google ads, vendors were sparse over the Memorial Day Weekend. On Friday, a couple dozen vendors set up in preassigned spaces and were scattered throughout the huge tentless structures on both sides of Stillwell. Most of the booths were selling clothes, new and used. Vendors specializing in auto supplies, housewares, Arbonne cosmetics, a water filtration system, Hawaiian noni juice and credit counseling also made an appearance over the three-day weekend. Here is my set of flickr pix of Thor’s attempted flea in-fest-ation of Coney Island.

Vendors at Thor Equities Flopped Flea Market, Coney Island. Photo by me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

Stands selling clothing and shoes were a reminder that Thor Equities pitch book unsuccessfullly used to lobby BP Markowitz for 10,000 square feet retail touted flagship retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap/Banana Republic, and DSW (“Thousands of shoes…prices you love”).

Shoes galore at Thor Equities flea market. Photo by me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

One vendor told me she was given a free space on Friday to compensate for the time and trouble of having showed up last week for nothing. Several others said rent had been temporarily reduced from $100 a day to $20. Despite the bargain basement prices, many said they wouldn’t be back next weekend. On Saturday the flea management moved all of the vendors to the east side of Stillwell, leaving the tentless framework behind Nathan’s completely empty. On Surf Ave. I ran into a man and his son carrying a display rack with repros of his Coney themed artwork. Five dollars apiece. The man said he decided NOT to rent space at Thor’s festival after seeing the miserable setup. He also didn’t like the dirt ground of Sitt’s space. Instead he walked around Coney Island all day and was pleased to have exercised his first amendment rights by selling about $100 worth of his artwork without paying any rent.

Thor Equities idea of entertainment at the flea market was a band playing two sets. Photo by me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

The entertainment at Thor Equities self-described “uniquely entertaining and amusing marketplace in Coney Island” consisted of a band playing two sets. So I guess this makes the flea legal in the C-7 amusement district? Loophole in the law or flagrant violation? In March Joe Sitt’s newly registered to do biz in NY state Delaware LLC “Chart Development Company” successfully applied for a DOB permit for a “temporary fair” after an earlier app for a “flea market” was disapproved.

Tent-less structure on East side of Stillwell Avenue

Thor Equities Flea Fest on Opening Day. Photo by me-myself-i/Tricia Vita

What used to be here? The Tornado Roller coaster (1927-1977), the Bobsled (1941-1974), and Stauch’s Baths and Dance Hall (1930-1998). An aerial view of the amusement district looking west from the Astro Tower in the 1970s shows Stauch’s Baths, the Wonder Wheel, the Tornado and Thunderbolt roller coasters and the Bobsled ride. In recent years, popular amusements such as the Bumper Boats, Go Karts, Climbing Wall, Batting Cages and Mini-Golf thrived here. Visitors to Coney still ask what happened to them: Bulldozed in February 2007 by Joe Sitt who was eager to get an early start on “site prep work” though nothing could be built there until the rezoning was done. Site prep work = Deliberately created empty lots.

The Bumper Boats and other amusements thrived on this very location until Joe Sitt evicted them in 2007 to create his empty lots. Hooray for redevelopment! Photo by the hanner via flickr

photo via the hanner, flickr

Joe Sitt’s Memorial Day Weekend flea in-fest-ation is a desecration of Coney Island’s C-7 amusement zone! The rash of press releases from Thor Equities touting their so-called “Festival by the Sea” fails to mention that Joe Sitt created the empty lots where he put his flea market. That area was NOT rundown until Sitt emptied it out to blight the property in hope of getting it rezoned for big box retail and high rises. There were thriving amusements here when Joe Sitt bought this property from Hy Singer. He evicted the amusement operators and made empty lots. Sitt wants to erase those rides and attractions from our collective memory to make way for a tented shopping mall followed by a permanent shopping mall. Want your Bumper Boats, Go-Karts, and Batting Cages back? Here’s what you can do to Save Coney Island’s amusement zoning now!

Somebody please tell the City what is wrong with this picture. Photo by me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

Memorial Day Weekend Mania: What Rides Are Open in Coney Island?

Posted in Amusement ride, tagged Coney Island, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Dreamland, Memorial Day 2009, rides, Thor Equities on May 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

“What rides are open in Coney Island?” This question is one of the search terms being used to arrive at ATZ. Since Astroland closed last year, people continue to be uncertain about what rides have remained here and are open. Last weekend’s postponement of Thor Equities much advertised “Festival by the Sea” due to “threat of bad weather”on a sunny day and no show rides was a slap in the face to the “Coney Island is Really Fun. Really Open” campaign. Here’s the Memorial Day Weekend ride count…

Kiddie helicopter ride at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park in Coney Island. Deno’s has 22 rides including the world famous Wonder Wheel. Photo by me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

~~More than 35~~ 40 rides owned and operated by Coney Island’s veteran ride operators have been open since April 5th. Come out and enjoy the Cyclone Roller Coaster, Wonder Wheel, Eldorado Skooters, the Polar Express, Saturn 6 and kiddie rides such as the Bumblebeez and the Sea Serpent Coaster.

Coney Island Cyclone, Second Ride of the Season. Photo by Pablo57 via flickr

photo via pablo57, flickr

At Thor Equities “Dreamland Amusement Park” (on the former Astroland site aka Sittland East) the Georgia-based Geren carnival’s Ring of Fire, Himalaya and Scrambler were set up and open for business for the first time on Saturday. You may remember these rides from Thor’s “Summer of Hope” carnival on Stillwell last season. Geren’s rides left in mid July to play the carnival’s Southern fair route. Will they stay till Labor Day this year or be switched out with other rides? Geren’s Spin-Out was also open for biz on Saturday.

Georgia-based Geren Rides Spin-Out at Thor Equities "Dreamland Park" in Coney Island. Photo by me-myself-i

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

Five additional carnival rides–one thrill ride, a merry-go-round, three other kiddie rides– were being set up at Joe Sitt’s park-in-progress on Saturday but were not yet ready to open. ATZ will be posting updates and analysis of the Memorial Day Weekend and will have more to say about Joey Coney Island’s shortcomings as an amusement park tycoon. I mean what kind of a 21st century amusement park developer fails to have his “upwards of 25 rides” in place and ready for action on the first big weekend of summer?

The title of my post “Memorial Day Weekend Mania” is dedicated to Bob Guskind of Gowanus Lounge, whose coverage of all things Coney inspired me to launch ATZ. If Bob were still here, he would undoubtedly be covering this story and I would be at the beach.

MEMORIAL DAY UPDATE…On Monday, eight of the nine rides at Sitt’s Dreamland were operational and open for business. The carousel was under construction.

JUNE 4, 2009 UPDATE> ..“What rides are open at Coney Island?”
Coney Island Ride Count

AUGUST 5, 2009 UPDATE…“Coney Island Has 56 Rides and 33 More Days of Summer!”