This is actually in Park Slope, not Coney Island, but there is a 'Coney Island Night of the Dead' party at the Brooklyn Lyceum tonight. The listing on flavor pill promises "Sexy carny zombies, Coney Island cuties, buckets of fake blood, and plenty of pasties." Not only should it be a good time, it also supports a good cause, as proceeds from the party go to benefit Planned Parenthood.
According to an article by Dianna Dilworth for Architectural Record, which was found on the website of the Architect firm EEK; Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, dated August 27th, 2007 - the same rhetoric of indoor water parks, holographic mermaids, glass towers, high rises, and even some of the cuts and scale backs due to community pressure. Thor has shown willingness to work with the community. After being pressured by residents who live near the development site, it scaled back its plans by 1 million square feet. The community board is also not entirely opposed to change. It supported the city’s 2003 rezoning to strengthen the amusement district’s core by allowing new jobs and residential development there. City officials have also allocated $83.2 million to area improvements, including the creation of new streets, parking, open space, and a community center. It’s also building Steeplechase Plaza, a low-to-middle-income affordable housing complex, and will renovate the New York Aquarium, located on Surf Avenue.
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Picture this: Coney Island, circa 1908, Atlas is sunning himself at the beach and trying hard to make time with a pretty girl. Up walks this gorilla and literally kicks sand in Atlas's face and walks off with the dame. After this humiliating experience, Atlas beheld the statue of Hercules at the Brooklyn Museum and vowed that he would never again have anyone kick sand in his face.
There is a lot of buzz going around about the newly released video from the electronica duo Daft Punk, featuring a combination of their songs 'Around The World" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." The video- which can be viewed on ZME Music, (as well as below or on YouTube) - was edited together from footage shot by 250 fans who were in the audience at a show Daft Punk played at Coney Island's own KeySpan Park over the summer.
Image by Rubys Host (Flickr.com)Coney Island Fans Jubilant at Astroland’s Reprieve [New York Times: City Room
Saving Coney [Journal Magazine]
Good News About Coney Island, for now... [Found in Brooklyn]
Memories Of Summer: Daft Punk At Keyspan Park, Coney Island [A Brooklyn Life]
Coney park to return for another summer [The Real Deal]
Coney Island's Astroland to reopen for 2008 season [Newyorkology]
BREAKING: Another Astroland Season for Coney Island [Gothamist]
Coney Island Art Auction [The 411 from Ross Reports]
Coney Island Bather...For Sale! [The Coney Island Reporter]
Coney Island: The Lost Horizon [Coney Island: The Lost Horizon]
The Shmaltz Brewing Company, which makes the great Coney Island Lager beer, and are the handcrafters of He-Brew (the “Chosen Beer”) celebrates Halloween by bringing us Freaktoberst! They have just released their new Halloween brew: "Coney Island Freaktoberfest". The freaky Halloween special brew is brewed with six malts and comes in red...blood red to that is.
Lisette Model's 1940 'Coney Island Bather' photo set is on auction at Christie's. The folks at Ephotozine.com give a little bit of context:A picture from the series Coney Island Bather, New York, was published in Harper's Bazaar in 1941 as a vivid counterpoint to the artifices of fashion.
The New York Aquarium has cleverly renamed itself the 'Ascarium' for the duration of its Halloween festivities. This sounds like a great way for parents to integrate some Halloween fun into an educational trip. Most of the activities come free with general admission, and children ages 3-12 who are in costume get in free if accompanied by a paying adult.
Word came in a comment to Kinetic Carnival that nycartsculture, the arts and culture blog of CUNY School of Journalism wrote about Carol Albert, of Astroland, confirming, at last night's Community Board 13 meeting, that she and her husband had reached an agreement with Thor Equities. The Alberts will lease the property and open Astroland for one more year.A Bit of Good News in Coney Island, for a Change…
Carol Hill-Alpert, co-owner of the Astroland Amusement Park, confirmed rumors that have been swirling in Coney Island in recent weeks last night at a meeting of Community Board 13: she and her husband have reached an agreement with Thor Equities to open Astroland again next summer.
The Associated Press verifies it.
Turns out all the talk about Coney Island’s “last year” was a bit alarmist; the businesses on the boardwalk will be open again in 2008, as well. The Coney Island Cassandras did turn a nice profit for everyone, though, as it was reported at Community Board 13’s Public Safety Committee meeting on Oct. 2 that crowds were up this summer!
A source in the government told me last night that the city will be announcing its long-awaited zoning changes for Coney Island on Nov. 8, around 6 or 7 pm. This will be big news, so keep your eyes and ears peeled.
Chamber of Commerce President Carl Hum has been named to the Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC) Board of Directors.
The Surf & Turf Grill throws their first Halloween Party this Saturday. With all the festivities going on for Halloween this weekend the streets of Coney Island will surely be filled with zombies and ghouls.
Dutchmazz brings us again some great videos posted on YouTube featuring the great Coney Island of yesteryear. Here in Part 1 of "Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle in Coney Island" Fatty teams up with Buster Keaton as they romp all over Luna Park of 1917.
Yesterday, the 'Coney Island Lions' episode of History Detectives was posted on You Tube in two parts. The episode originally ran on PBS in 2005, but anyone who missed it then should check it out online now. The immediate objective of the show's investigation is to determine if a collector's metal lion paws actually came from the entrance of Steeplechase Park, as he beleives. Along the way, a great history of Steeplechase Park is given. The show's climax comes when Charles Denson appears with vital photographic evidence.
Steeplechase Lions Paws Part I & Part II [YouTube]
Videos posted on YouTube by Magicalthemeparks
Two people are dead and two others have been rescued after a collision between a barge and a 24-foot yacht in the waters off Coney Island.
One person was found in the water by a fishing boat. The victim was taken to a hospital on Staten Island. None of the victims have been identified.
Thor Equities and Astella Development team up for some Halloween festivities.
The Creepshow at the Freakshow playing throughout October.The Creepshow is Coney Island’s only Halloween extravaganza and one of the best haunted tours in all of New York City. Come see what the New York Press called "not only the best and wildest haunted house in town, but the smartest as well."
The Creepshow at the Freakshow is live entertainment at its spookarific best! Audience members are greeted by live entertainment and taken on a half-hour guided tour featuring a frightening array of ghosts and ghouls. Due to the intense nature of this event, the experience is not recommended for small children. Older children will be admitted with parental approval only! Hold onto your hats and prepare to be petrified!
Police from Patrol Borough Brooklyn South are launching an extensive graffiti cleanup tomorrow, according to an article on Brooklyn Graphic. One of the targeted areas is Coney Island, where police will be working with the local group, Kick Drugs Out of the U.S.A. to clean up sites such as Surf and Mermaid Avenues. In addition to cleaning up graffiti, police will also be promoting their $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of graffiti writers.
Yesterday's Birmingham News ran a profile on Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut, the reigning champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chestnut is currently preparing for next week's Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga. His primary objective in the contest is to beat his Japanese rival, Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi. Kobayashi was the Nathan's Hot Dog champion for six years, before being toppled by Chestnut, who is quite proud of this victory: "Whenever I'm traveling to a contest and I tell the person next to me on the plane that I'm going to an eating contest, they say, `Oh, are you going to compete against that little Japanese guy who eats all the hot dogs?'
"Now, I'm finally able to tell them that I beat him."
Some great old photos of Coney Island have been put up Shorpy, an interesting blog devoted to old photographs. The newly posted photos include: 
'Luna Park: 1913' (above)
May 19, 1913. Promenaders at Luna Park, "The Heart of Coney Island
'Coney Island Bathers' (above)
On the beach at New York's Coney Island circa 1910-1915.
This wonderful piece of work brought to Kinetic Carnival's attention by the bloggers over at the Living With Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog takes us through what was for the last few weeks considered the end of Coney as we knew it.Australian filmmaker Michael Maher, who shot a documentary about the gentrification of the Chelsea Hotel and Chelsea neighborhood for his "Postcards from New York" series, is back in action again, having set in sights on another threatened New York institution, Coney Island. In case you haven't heard, what's happening out there, is that developers are tearing down most of the seedy old amusement park so they can build condos for rich people who, apparently, don't like to have fun. (Is anyone taking bet on how long it will be before they complain about noise, drunks, etc., from the Cyclones ballpark next door.)
The classic 1939 short film, 'Shorty at Coney Island' has recently been posted on You Tube. Basically, the film follows a chimpanzee named Shorty as he runs amuck in Steeplechase Park, while the off screen narrator alternately berates his foolishness, and relays his thoughts to the audience. Any Coney Island history buff should check out the film for the footage of Steeplechase. Everyone else should check out just because it's bizarre and wonderful to watch a chimpanzee climb a Ferris wheel.
Secrets of Coney Island Creek, an exhibit of photographs by photographer and author Charles Denson, opens at the Brooklyn College Library on .
Though the 'I Heart Brooklyn Girls at Coney Island' calendar is pretty fantastic, it is not too every one's taste. For those who want a slightly risqué, Coney Island themed calendar, there is Coney Island U.S.A.'s 20008 Greetings from Coney Island Calendar. The calendar features post card images from CIUSA's archives of historical sites such as Luna Park, Steeplechase Park and Dreamland. Proceeds of the sale go to benefit the ongoing work of Coney Island U.S.A.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle's resident historian, John B. Manbeck, has given us another fine column on Coney Island history. The new column is a concise, readable history of the Wonder Wheel, from its creation in 1920, through these current days of Thor.
In order to promote the upcoming Will Smith movie, 'I Am Legend' (based on Richard Matheson's classic 1954 sci-fi novel), a tie-in online multi-player game on 'Second Life' has been released. In an interview on Second Life Insider, two of the games creators explain that to simplify the game's New York setting, they focused on the key areas of Central Park, Chinatown, Columbus Circle and, of course, Coney Island. One of the creator's, Cory Edo, seems particularly excited about the Coney sim:
Coney Island is my favorite because its creepy as hell. This sim is probably the one we pulled the most from RL. We have the Coney Island subway station, the freak show, the wonder wheel... there's the Boardwalk and the beach, and that's the Grand Tour!
The Coney Island Lighthouse is a local historical landmark, dating from 1890. The lighthouse is owned by the Coast Guard, and is largely inaccessible, due to its location within the gated community of Seagate
- post by Ben Nadler
'I Heart Brooklyn Girls' is the self described, "only queer femme swimsuit calendar in the U.S. of A."
The intersection of Neptune Ave. and West 16th St. has been dedicated as 'Grace Nichilo Way,' according to an article in today's Bay News. Nichilo was a mother, a grandmother, and an active parishioner of Our Lady of Solace church on Mermaid Ave. She is best remembered for helping with the Coney Island Feast, and various church festivals.
‘Grace Nichilo Way’ debuts in Coney island [Bay News]
Today's Brooklyn Eagle ran an editorial by Dennis Holt on the subject of 'Brooklyn Soul.' Basically, Holt's argument seems to be that the idea of resisting development in order to preserve 'Brooklyn's soul' is sentimental, nostalgic nonsense. The discussion mainly centers on the redevelopment of Downtown Brooklyn, but he does throw Coney Island in at the end: So when I look at a vision of what the new Downtown Brooklyn will look like, it's hard for me to conjure up matters relating to soul. Nor, when I see the remains of the old Coney Island, and plans to build a new one, do I think of soul.
New York launched its first multi nation advertising campaign today, according to an article on Newsday.com. The "This is New York Campaign" will be promoted in a number of mediums throughout the world, in an attempt to increase the amount of tourists who visit New York each year. The Newsday article gives a preview:Set to a contemporary remix of Ella Fitzgerald singing "Take the A Train," the TV spots merge video of a family's visit to New York with fanciful animation. Flying hot dogs pass over Coney Island's ferris wheel; a giant pair of red heels makes its way across Fifth Avenue; the Yankees' baseball diamond suddenly transforms into a slice of pizza.
The great Brooklyn blog The Gowanus Lounge reported that two productions were filming in Coney Island yesterday and will continue filming today. A TV crew was filming for the new Fox series "New Amsterdam" And so was a film called "The Code". Check out the filming details over at The Gowanus Lounge.
Image by RGuskind (Flckr.com)
Coney Island #2: Astroland Open Again...for a Film Shoot The Gowanus Lounge]
