Police Car Crashes on Surf Avenue

Yesterday, an NYPD squad car racing to the scene of a crime crashed into a light pole at the intersection of Surf Ave. & 25th St., injuring the two cops inside. The New York Daily News provided details:

Both cops were listed in stable condition with mostly bruises and lacerations from broken glass, authorities said. The driver of the car was believed to have suffered some broken ribs.

Sources said the cops were racing to assist housing cops nearby who had radioed for help to control a melee on Mermaid Ave.

As they were whipping down Surf Ave. about 6:30 p.m., the officers swerved to avoid hitting another car, sending their own out-of-control vehicle into the air.

Bloodied cops stable after Coney Island patrol car crash [The Daily News]

- post by Ben Nadler

Thor Takes Down Blue Fence

Image from The Gowanus Lounge / courtesy of Captain Nemo

Found on The Gowanus Lounge and posted by Captain Nemo on The Coney Island USA message board, the blue wooden fence put up last by Thor Equities has come down. Weather Thor Equities is intending to lease the stand or not is still unclear at this point.

New York Aquarium's Bertha The Shark Dies At 43

The oldest living shark living at the New York aquarium dies. Bertha was caught in 1965 by a local fisherman and brought to the aqarium. Though it is not clear how long the life span of a tiger shark is Bertha was beleived to have died for reasons of old age.

The New York Post reports:
"A beloved resident of Coney Island," according to aquarium director Jon Forrest Dohlin, Bertha "was a great animal and a symbol for the plight of all sharks in the wild."


CONEY IS. SHARK DIES [New York Post]

Coney Island Loses a Very Old Shark [The Gowanus Lounge]

Coney Events: The Old City Sideshow

From the Coney Island USA website:

Sideshows by the Seashore!!
Special Guest Show!
Dr. Zanzibar Presents: The Olde City Sideshow

Brace yourself for an adventure into the "Olde City" stylings of Vaudeville & the Historical Sideshow combined with Philadelphia's counter-culture influences. Dr. Zanzibar's hand selected performers will be conducted by His "Master of Ceremonies" Johnny Neutrino, your sly guide through an ever changingrepertoire of acts and spectacles.

We are all the Doctor's children, but Ladies and Gentlemen, these are His favorites:

Martin Ling - The Suicide King, master of the secrets of the Far East Fakirs;Danny Borneo -the mysterious "gentleman" of wild and astounding feats;Reggie Bugmüncher - the lovely orphelin français with an appetite for destruction;Heartbreak Heather Marie - Mistress of The Keys, will delight you with an amazing musical accompaniment to the insanity on stage


The Old City Sideshow
Saturday and Sunday only, weather permitting!
Runs from 1pm until 8pm.
$7.50 for adults, $5 for children under 12
at Sideshows by the Seashore
Corner of Surf and West 12th Street

Old Coney Hotel Signs

One of the key features of the city's plans for a revitalized Coney Island is new hotels. In fact, Coney Island had quite a few hotels back in it's day.



Some of these hotels - like the legendary Half Moon have been completely destroyed. Several other former hotels are still standing, some with their signs more or less intact. A great selection of these signs has recently been posted to Lost City.



Some Hotels In Coney Island I Won't Be Staying At [Lost City]

- post by Ben Nadler

Harvey Fierstein's Coney Island Song

Last week, we reported that a song about Coney Island plays a central role in the new Harvey Fierstein musical, 'A Catered Affair.'

Now, you can actually listen to Fierstein sing the song, thanks to YouTube user berecat. The song, which uses Coney Island as a metaphor for living life to its fullest, is quite moving, and well worth a listen.


"Coney Island" From "A Catered Affair" A New Musical

Description:
The song "Coney Island" by John Bucchino from the new musical "A Catered Affair". The vocal is performed by Harvey Fierstein (who als

o wrote the book for the show). It is currently playing at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

posted by berecat [YouTube]

- post by Ben Nadler

Coney Photo Dance Video

Stefan Falke, a New York based German photographer - has posted an interesting 'photo dance video' on his blog: Stefan Falke's Eye. The video was out together by its subject, the Trinidadian dancer and choreographer Makeda Thomas, using photographs taken by Falke at Coney Island last summer. The video also features music by Raw Artistic Soul featuring Wunmi.

The video is quite interesting, particularly in the way in which still photography is used to capture movement. It's also great to see a photographer using Coney Island in his work in such an innovative way, considering how many photographers tend to take the same few stock Coney shots.


A Coney Island Photo Dance with Makeda Thomas [Stefan Falke's Eye]

- post by Ben Nadler

The Daily Eagle on the Aquarium's New Director

Friday's Brooklyn Daily Eagle had an article on Jon Dohlin, the new director of the New York Aquarium. It sounds like Dohlin has some pretty ambitious plans for the aquarium: "My hopes are for the aquarium to become the best guest destination in the Northeast. We have an incredible conservation message."

One particularly heartening thing about Dohlin's comments in the interview is that, despite the focus on increasing visitors to the aquarium, he seems committed to working on how the aquarium can benefit the surrounding communities, not just tourists. Specifically, programs are being put in place to reach out to the Russian, Hispanic, and Orthodox Jewish communities.

Dohlin, Aquarium's Director, Wants To Make It 'Best Guest Destination in Northeast' [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]

- post by Ben Nadler

Doctoroff To Keep His Hand in City Projects (But Not Coney)

Former Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff - who was instrumental in creating the city's plan for the rezoning and redevelopment of Coney Island- resigned at the beginning of 2008 to take a job with Mayor Bloomberg's private company, Bloomberg LP. Normally, this would mean that Doctoroff's connections to public development plans were terminated, by law. However, as the Brooklyn Daily Eagle explains, this is not a normal situation:

There are strict rules in the City Charter limiting the contact municipal employees can have with the city after leaving their government jobs, so the administration had sought a waiver from the city Conflicts of Interest Board to allow Doctoroff to remain involved in several of the various development projects he had guided.

This situation will not actually have any direct relevance to the redevelopment of Coney Island. The city was required to acquire a separate waiver for each individual project, and Coney Island was not on the list. Still, the fact that city went to these lengths to keep Doctoroff on board would seem to illustrate their continued commitment to Doctoroff's vision for New York.


Doctoroff Can Stay Involved in NYC Issues, Says Panel [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]

- post by Ben Nadler

Coney Island Pops Up In New Fierstein Musical

The gay entertainment site After Elton is currently feautirng an interview with Harvey Fierstein, the gravelly-voiced actor and playright best known for his 'Torch Song Trilogy.' The interview comes in anticipation of Fierstein's stage adaptation of the 1956 film, Catered Affair. Apparently, a song about Coney Island is a crucial part of the show:

There's a turning point in the show: We have a song called "Coney Island," where I say to my sister Aggie, "Remember when we were kids and I took you to Coney Island and made you get on the roller coaster? From the moment we got on, you covered your eyes. At the end of the ride, you looked so sad, because you paid your money, you took the ride, but you missed the view. So, come on. We're halfway through another ride. Open your eyes!"

Interview with Harvey Fierstein [After Elton]

- post by Ben Nadler

New Aquarium Director

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)- which operates the NYC Aquarium- has appointed one of their own, Jon Forrest Dohlin, as the aquarium's new director.

Considering that (as the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports) Dohlin is already involved in the creation of the controversial new shark exhibit, his appointment will probably not lead to any drastic departures from the aquarium's current direction.


New York Aquarium Welcomes New Director [The Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
300,000 Gallons of 'Jaws' [New York Times]

Top image courtesy of Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

- post by Ben Nadler

Phillip On The Beach

Another gem from The Gowanus Lounge which has had quite a lot of Coney content lately.

This amazing video clip of legendary minimalist composer Phillip Glass riding the Cyclone is apparently part of the trailer for a new documentary, GLASS: A Portrait of Phillip in Twelve Parts. The film is directed by Scott Hicks, who also did the musically themed biopic, Shine.

Besides being intrinsically delightful, this footage of Glass on the Cyclone is also a fantastic American moment: a melding of high art and popular amusement so seamless, that any distinction between the two is rendered completely arbitrary.

- post by Ben Nadler

B&B Restoration Under Way

At last week's Museum of New York City panel discussion, Lynn Kelly mentioned briefly that the process of restoring the city owned B&B carousel (Coney Island's last old wooden carousel) would be getting under way this week.

NY1 News has now given further details:

Carousel experts and fine art movers are carefully packing the dismantled Bishoff & Brienstein Carousel for a journey to an Ohio restoration shop where it will be refurbished and eventually returned to Brooklyn. […]

The restoration is expected to take up to two years.

Coney Island Carousel Is Dismantled For Makeover [NY1]

- post by Ben Nadler

Who's Imitating Whom?

The Right Student, a British political blog, has pointed out that the mock up of the revamped Eiffel Tower "looks a bit like the 'Parachute Jump' from Coney Island."

The Guardian explains that the purpose of the Eiffel addition is to "double the capacity of the public viewing area on the tower's top floor." However, considering that the Parachute Jump is often referred to as the 'Eiffel Tower of Brooklyn,' and that the revamping of the Parachute Jump's lighting has been getting a lot of press lately, it could be that Paris is just trying to keep up with Brooklyn.


The French Are Copying Coney Island [The Right Student]
New Look for Eiffel Tower [The Guardian]

- post by Ben Nadler

Lola Staar Skating Rink Opening Party Video

This Brookvid video of Lola Staar's Skating Rink Opening Party was found on the always informative blog of blogs: The Great Gowanus Lounge!

The Gowanus Lounge also gives a good GL analysis on what the skating rink at the Child's building does for Coney Island.

The Gowanus Lounge writes:

We have to say that the opening of Lola Staar's roller rink in the historic Childs Building in Coney Island on Saturday night was an event so nice we feel compelled to blog it twice. (Well, given that we posted everything on Easter Sunday, we thought we'd air it all out again on a Monday morning.) The inaugural staking event drew a big crowd to Childs and some celeb participants like Ashanti and Marissa Tomei (who turns out to be quite the roller skater). The enterprise is sponsored by Dreaming Tommy Hilfiger (a fragrance) and Glamour Magazine. (The campaign behind the fragrance is that it "inspires real women to go after their dreams.") In any case, you can check out our vid here and our big slideshow here.

Coney Madness #3: Lola Staar Roller Rink Redux [The Gowanus Lounge]
Brookvid: Lola Staar's Skating Rink Opening Party [The Gowanus Lounge]

Analyzing The Fun Out of Freak Shows

The current issue of the The Utne Reader contains an article (picked up from Polite Magazine) which examines today's freak shows within the context of the genre's history. The questions grappled with in 'Letting Their Freak Flags Fly: The Sideshow Isn't Dead, It's Just More Ironic' are clearly outlined by author Sacha Evans:

In an age of political correctness and artful irony, modern freak shows still cannot escape certain niggling questions: Are the shows empowering or demeaning? Do they provide social misfits with a refuge and a decent wage, or do they perpetuate dangerous bigotries about the "other"?

Though Evans primary sources are the Texas based 999 Eyes Carnival of the Damned and sociologist Robert Bogdan, no discussion of contemporary freak shows would be complete without a trip to Coney Island. Evan's finds Sideshows by the Seashore under whelming:

Despite the performers' spectacular lack of regard for their own bodies, there is a subtle sense among the crowd that they've seen it all before. […] As Donny [Vomit] presents [Madame Electra] to the audience, she wipes her brow, pretending to recover from the greatest shock of her life. Filing out into the hazy Coney Island afternoon, the audience pretends to do the same.

Evan's article is well researched and well written. However, no amount of history, theory, and style can substitute for the one ingredient that makes a Coney sideshow- and Coney Island in general- so fantastic: a sense of wonder. While critiques of the problematic history and attraction of freak shows are more than called for, taking the fun out of them with 'hipper than thou, 'seen it all before' snarkyness certainly is not. While side shows are few and far between these days, wet blanket articles with the word 'ironic' in their subtitles are, unfortunately, all too common


Letting Their Freak Flags Fly: The Sideshow Isn't Dead, It's Just More Ironic [Utne Reader]

- post by Ben Nadler

CIDC Writing Competition

The Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC) has announced its first ever student writing competition. Coney Island students in grades 1 through 12 have until April 18th to submit essays of up to 500 word describing their vision for the future of Coney Island. Winners will receive a pack of tickets to Coney attractions such as the Aquarium, Cyclones games, and the Wonder Wheel.

This sounds like a great way to help local youth feel included- rather than passed by- by the city's plans for a new Coney Island.

Details of the competition can be found on The Brooklyn Daily Eagle's website.

- post by Ben Nadler

New Gallery To Open With Coney Photo Exhibit

The inaugural exhibit at Bond Street Gallery - a new photography gallery located in Gowanus- is entitled 'Coney Island of the Heart, 'The mission of the show (whose name is apparently a play on the famous Lawrence Ferlinghetti book) is to "celebrate the history of Coney Island as the playground of the working-class melting pot through exuberant and singular images of the Jews, Italians, African-Americans, Russians, Puerto Ricans, and others who have played there."

The show is primarily devoted to the work of Harold Feinstein, but also contains work from several other photographers.

A good deal of the photographs from the show are up on the gallery's website, and they are well worth a look. Feinstein's black and white photographs vary wildly in their temporal origin (having been taken over a sixty year period), yet seem to all fit together shockingly well, due to their common geographical location.


'Coney Island of the Heart'
March 27th through May 8th
Bond Street Gallery
297 Bond Street
Opening: March 27th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m

- post by Ben Nadler

Lola Staar's Roller Rink Now Open

Lola Staar's 'Dreamland Roller Rink'- located in the Childs Building on the boardwalk- opened Saturday evening.

An extensive slideshow of the event has been posted on The Gowanus Lounge. It looks like it was quite an evening.

Though the roller rink is only temporary, it's great to see a new, family friendly amusement open up in Coney.

- post by Ben Nadler

The New York Observer on the Development Saga

Thursday's New York Observer featured an article by Eliot Brown which places Wednesday's Museum of New York City panel discussion in the broader context of the ongoing Coney Island redevelopment saga. The article provides a solid recap, and makes a point which is hard to argue with: "As often with development fights, local politics reign supreme."


For Troubled Coney Plan, City May Need to Backpedal [The New York Observer]

Image courtesy of NY Observer

- post by Ben Nadler