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The famous Coney Island rocket first appeared on NYC's scene in 1962. It was a 26-passenger movie theater that vibrated as viewers watched a "journey to the moon" movie. More recently, it sat motionless atop a Boardwalk food stand. New plans for Coney are forcing it out. From Brooklyn to the Smithsonian, no organization was interested in displaying this famous icon. Let’s hope the rocket finally touched down in a safe location.▼
IMPORTANT NOTE: This piece was written today about an older New York City news headline. NYCo site delays prevented its publication before now. In an effort to entertain and educate this blog’s devoted viewers, 100’s of older headlines will be posted in chronological order until this blog is discussing current events again. Though some stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of mention and viewer comments.
[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments and reply to others. This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]
Though Coney Island will be losing its famed Astroland, Joe Sitt plans to build a flea market called, "Flea By The Sea." It will run between April and December along Stillwell Avenue near the Boardwalk. On a less appealing "pest" note, in the coming years, bedbugs throughout New York City are expected to run year round.IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog is a quick comment on an older New York City news headline. Unforeseen NYCo website development delays prevented it’s publication before now. For readership continuity, 100’s of older headlines are to be posted in chronological order until this blog is current. Though some of the stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of this site’s mention and viewer comments.
[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments and reply to others! This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]
New York City purchased a prime acre of Coney Island real estate for $11 million. This maneuver prevents Thor Equities, CEO Joe Sitt, from moving forward with his plans to develop a Vegas-like entertainment complex. It also boosts city policy to build a new amusement park in Coney. The city owns 4 of 9 acres needed to do just that. Sitt owns most of the present-day amusement area. He reportedly did not see Bloomberg "strolling down the Boardwalk" with this bold action. The carnival game between the city and Sitt will go on. Now that Mayor Bloomberg will likely be mayor another four years, it’ll be interesting to see if Sitt will "sit still" in the city’s "dog house" or make a shrewd move to go back into his "life is wonderful in Coney" funhouse once again
Doing your Christmas shopping early? How about buying a 275-foot-high Astroland Space Tower at $99,000? Perhaps the Water Flume water ride for $199,000, Break Dance for $299,000, Dante’s Inferno for $225,000, Bumper Cars for $199,000, Merry-Go-Round for $95,000 or the Top Spin ride for a meager $499,000? Step right up and buy ten rides including those previously mentioned for a steal at only $2,724.000! Two dozen other rides will either be listed soon or stored. Carol Albert, Astroland’s longtime operator, must quickly clear Brooklyn's famed Coney Island park of all rides and 16 trailers of carnival items too. Hoping to close a deal with the landlord, she may have waited too long to start the sale. Many hope the Astroland Tower, built in 1963, will be saved and rebuilt somewhere nearby.
New York's Coney Island Astroland rides have ridden off into the sunset. Recently, Astroland operator Carol Albert sent a letter to the lawyer of the landlord, site developer Joe Sitt. She threatened to close her amusement park if she wasn’t granted a two-year extension. Sitt sat pat, saying “We are extremely disappointed that Carol Albert has decided to give up on the future of Coney Island when her current lease isn’t even up for a number of months. A Sitt spokesperson added that Astroland will be replaced next summer with new “amusements, games, shopping and entertainment.” Astroland closed because they couldn’t reach a deal with Thor Equities. Children and families will suffer the most as a result. Albert claims she didn’t give up on Coney, just dealing with Thor and Thor’s CEO, Joe Sitt. Her lease expires on January, 31, 2009. Albert claims she needed the extra time to sell off rides to avoid penalties from Sitt. Time to eBay the rides, Carol. The landmarked Cyclone and Wonder Wheel will not be affected. Though Sitt promised to replace Astroland’s rides, the ones he arranged for this summer were a flop. So for now, a few more childhood memories of Astroland and Coney will be carried out to the ocean by the waves along the beach. Let’s hope that the future of Coney Island maintains a Brooklyn flavor, good and bad, without the corporate, antiseptic taste of Disney.
New York City's female commuters have been under attack, underground. 10% claim sexual abuse when using mass transit while an astounding 63% report being sexually harassed. Ever responsive to the immediate needs of transit riders, NYC Transit will put up signs to combat this indecency! These signs state that “sexual harassment” is a crime. Victims will be encouraged to report incidents whenever they occur. That's the MTA's response. Our subways shouldn’t be a Coney Island amusement park, "tunnel of love" for low-lives. I think more undercover cops and stiffer court sentences might reduce the problem. How about "lifetime bans" for convicted touchers from taking trains or buses with mandatory jail time if they're ever found on board? The MTA’s solution is a sad sign of our times. The poster-writing is on the wall.
The 18th annual beach report prepared by The Natural Resources Defense Council is in with the tide. Their top beach rating is 4 stars. Rockaway in Queens and Coney Island in Brooklyn each had beaches with 2 and 3 stars while Orchard Beach in the Bronx received only 1 star. Overall, our local shores had the second highest increase of "contamination closings" in the nation. Their report concluded that storm water runoff was the cause of contamination 70% of the time while raw sewage was the culprit another 19%. Common sense suggests that local sun worshippers check out local health conditions at their favorite beach before slipping on the Flip-Flops.
Nathan’s annual eating contest took place in Coney. Revised rules for 2008 cut the time limit from 12 minutes down to its original 10 minutes. As time expired, the two favorites had each swallowed 59 hotdogs and buns! In the first-ever tie breaker, last year’s weiner, Californian Joey Chestnut defeated six-time weiner, Japanese Takeru Kobayashi by downing five additional dogs first. That’s a weining total of 64 hotdogs! Eating contestants really do have guts! At Nathan’s current price of $2.95 per hotdog, Mr. Chestnuts’ recent meal would have cost $188.80 if ordered at Nathan's counter. Maybe that explains the appeal of eating in the contest as opposed to ordering at the counter.
Walter Reiss, an amusement-safety consultant hired by the New York Post, thinks that several rides are so dangerously unsafe, he'd immediately padlock the fairground owned by Joseph Sitt. In particular, he mentioned the Swingout ride, the Ring of Fire and the Scrambler. Glen Geren who owns these rides says his rides were recently inspected and approved twice by NYC inspectors and once by his insurance company. A spokesman for Sitt claims all of the permits are in place. It's hard to say who's right and who's wrong when there are "experts" on both sides. The question now is, will YOU be daring enough to go on these Coney rides as someone’s “Coney Island Baby” and will you become someone's “Coney Island Body?”
The annual July 4th hot dog eating contest held at Nathan’s in Coney Island will be doing its' part to reduce global warming. They’ve agreed to reduce the contest length from 12 minutes down to 10. This change is being made at the insistence of George Shea of Major League Eating which manages the event. He claims that he’s found notes from 1917 stating that the frankfurter contest lasted only 10 minutes. An article from 1986 corroborated that time limit. Shea believes he’s preserving history, not changing it by instituting this new rule. Whether last year’s winner, Joey Chestnut can best his record of eating 60 hot dogs in just 10 minutes this year remains to be seen. Takero Kobayashi from Japan has previously won the event on six occasions. This year, time and time difference will decide who eats the most hot dogs and buns. Hot gases will be rising from the contestants’ buns this coming week. Be prepared for a heat wave, Brooklyn! Look away from your television set, Al Gore!
Dick Zigun, 55, is referred to as the “Mayor of Coney Island.” He’s been in Coney most of his life. He owns “Zigun’s Coney Island USA” which runs a popular circus sideshow and museum. Zigun also organizes the annual "Mermaid Parade" in Brooklyn and manages a nonprofit organization he founded in 1980. He’s also been a member of New York City’s Coney Island Development Corporation for three years. Zigun has lived and operated his not-for-profit business for ten years at 1208 Surf Avenue in a modest two room apartment. Coincidentally, the CIDC approved a $3.6 million dollar sweetheart-deal for Zigun to buy the building where he resides using public grant money to do so. This is where the story begins. You see the building is supposed to be used only for public entertainment; not for residential use. Though he never hid his home address, Zigun may now face an investigation for inappropriate use of the millions he received. Could it be that this is coming to light now because a city watchdog alertly spotted the illegality here? Unlikely. Could it be that this is coming to light now because Zigun has been opposed to recent CIDC building plans which sacrifice amusement space for retail locations and motels? More likely. Perhaps his vocal objections kicked some sand in a financial bully's face. Hopefully this story won’t get swept, under the boardwalk. If Mr. Zigun inappropriately received public funds, the law should be upheld regardless of where the sand castles may fall. If however, Mr. Zigun's points about the public losing out to private interests are substantiated, he, and his modest two room apartment should be protected.
On September 9th, it appeared that Astroland in Coney Island had entertained its last customer. Thankfully, a deal was reached with Thor Equities to extend the park’s official closing one more year. Thor also extended eight other attractions by the Boardwalk. It’s an unexpected, but very welcome surprise that a settlement was reached.
Thor’s $100 million dollar investment to redesign and develop Coney won’t save Astroland or many of the other places we know. That means New Yorkers and tourists have just one more season to enjoy what remains of old Coney Island before “Corporate Coney” replaces it. Future images of this world famous attraction look more like a generic Disney theme park than a unique Brooklyn experience. That's sad. We can only hope that Coney Island will become as wonderful and distinctive a place as it once was, many, many, many years ago.
