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  #161  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2010, 5:35 PM
liat91 liat91 is offline
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So what is the general prediction on when this project will be fully developed?
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  #162  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2010, 4:36 AM
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So what is the general prediction on when this project will be fully developed?
Well, there are multiple developments going on, but the primary, city backed development at the core of the amusement district could take up to a decade to complete, though they are saying sooner. They will spend two years alone just getting the infrastruction up (raising street levels, sewers,etc.)

But what will be opening this summer is the new Luna Park, named after the original Luna Park in Coney Island. It will be operated by Zamperla USA...
http://www.zamperla.com/

The completed redevelopment of the core amusement district will see as many indoor attractions as outdoor, making the shore a year 'round destination. It'll be fantastic to have Coney open at Christmas.
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  #163  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2010, 4:43 AM
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http://www.observer.com/2010/commerc...shows?page=all

Freak On! Texan Takes Coney Space to Compete With Other Sideshows




By Emily Geminder
February 9, 2010

Coney Island's oldest building will soon play a role in its oldest rivalry: the vying for the biggest, baddest freak show. Texan sideshow owner John Strong is making a bid for the title, signing a new lease at the Grashorn Building on Surf Avenue, according to the New York Post. His competition includes Dick Zigun's Coney Island USA Circus Sideshow, and, if a deal with the city is finalized, an amusement park run by Zamperla, called Luna Park.

Built in the 1880s, the Surf Avenue building was home to Grashorn's Hardware, which outfitted much of early Coney Island's burgeoning amusement industry. The Municipal Art Society has made a push for the city to recognize the building as a landmark, so far to no avail.

The building is owned by developer Joe Sitt, who bought up much of Coney Island in recent years for a proposed amusement park called Dreamland. When Mr. Strong first came to town last summer, he leased part of the former Astroland site, which Mr. Sitt has since sold to the city.

The original Luna Park and Dreamland were among Coney Island's first competing amusement parks. At Luna Park, a herd of elephants roamed the land, including one who was electrocuted by Thomas Edison. The proprietors of Dreamland, meanwhile, recruited 300 little people to live in a small-scale village called Lilliputia and, to gain a wider audience, encouraged the community to engage in sexually promiscuous behavior.


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http://www.nypost.com/p/city_conside...VAQFrug2EUIoFI

City considering landmark designation for Coney Island Theatre

February 9, 2010
By RICH CALDER


It opened in 1924 with the intention of turning Coney Island into a year-round tourist destination.

And now city officials are considering giving "landmark" designation to the long-shuttered Coney Island Theatre building, so it could be protected and eventually become a key part of Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to finally revive the fabled – but rundown — summer seaside district into a year-round attraction.

"If we’re going to be serious about getting people to Coney Island year-round, we need a live entertainment venue, and this 2,500-seat theater not only showed movies in its heyday, but offered Broadway-style live shows," said Dick Zigun, of Coney Island USA, which submitted the proposal. "We're excited."

However, Kansas Fried Chicken king Horace Bullard and business partner Peter Sheffer, who co-own the Surf Avenue building, said they oppose landmark status because it would "restrict" redevelopment in the amusement district.


"The icons of old Coney Island should be used as an incorporation of a new Coney Island without placement, size, and design restrictions," they said in an e-mail. "We do not think that the building without modification enhances the long-term viability of the amusement district. Landmarking the building will stymie the future growth of a renowned amusement area that has always been about the latest, greatest and newest."

The Landmarks Preservation Commission said it will host a public hearing on the matter in the coming months.

The 1920 construction of the Stillwell Avenue subway station and construction of the boardwalk, which made the beachfront publicly accessible for the first time, paved the way for a revamped Coney Island and the building, which is Coney Island’s tallest and a modest interpretation of an Italian Renaissance palazzo.

The site is unusual for its combination of a theater with a full-size office building, something seen more in Manhattan’s theater district than the outer boroughs.

According to a report released by the city it "was constructed in 1924-25 to the designs of experienced theater architects Reilly & Hall, with associate architect Samuel L. Malkind, all of whom were protégés of the famous theater architect Thomas W. Lamb.

"The builder was the Chanin Construction Company, specialists in theater construction. Opened on June 27, 1925 with screenings of the silent film ‘The Sporting Venus’ and live performances by the famous Siamese twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, the seven-story neo-Renaissance Revival style structure housed a 2,500-seat auditorium theater for vaudeville and motion pictures, as well as six stories of office space.

"Shortly after its opening, the theater came under the operation of Marcus Loew, founder of one of the nation’s premier movie theater chains. According to one source, Al Jolson performed at Loew’s Coney Island Theatre on August 11, 1949."

Renamed "Shore Theater" in 1964, it fell on hard times in its final years as an adult movie house and bingo parlor before closing for good in 1973.
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  #164  
Old Posted Feb 11, 2010, 5:00 AM
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/ny...11seaside.html

Clash Over Plans for a Brooklyn Park


Free summer concerts are offered at the band shell at Seaside Park, also known as Asser Levy Park,
on the edge of Coney Island.



By MIREYA NAVARRO
February 10, 2010

The way Marty Markowitz sees it, the rundown nine-acre park where Coney Island and Brighton Beach meet is ripe for a sparkling transformation.

Mr. Markowitz, the Brooklyn borough president, envisions Asser Levy Park, also known as Seaside Park, as the gateway to a spruced-up amusement complex evoking Coney Island’s splashy past. An enormous new outdoor amphitheater would have room for 8,000 people and draw top entertainers, he said — maybe even favorites of his like Carole King or Neil Diamond.

“It’ll be absolutely gorgeous,” Mr. Markowitz said, and “a really great attraction for the future of Coney Island.”

City officials hope to have the amphitheater, the largest in a city park, ready for the 2013 outdoor concert season.

But for many neighbors, the project is about as subtle as a spaceship. They say they like Asser Levy Park just as it is — a quiet oasis with a modest band shell — not as a place, they say, that would draw more traffic, disrupt services at two synagogues and, perhaps most critically, diminish their only decent patch of open space.

“His dream is our nightmare,” said Al Turk, president of Temple Beth Abraham, on Sea Breeze Avenue, opposite the park. “They’re destroying a park to turn it over to a concrete amphitheater. This thing is right on top of us.”

The dispute playing out in this corner of Brooklyn reflects a clash of visions between the residents of an immigrant enclave whose biggest community event in the park is the annual Russian Heritage Festival and city officials longing for a Coney Island entertainment district that will restore the wider area to glory.

It is also a clash between development and conservation in a city where open space is ever more precious. “I need quiet and the trees,” said Rafael Grugman, 62, a professor of computer science who plays chess in the park and was strolling through it the other day.

New York City lags well behind other cities in green space. It offers 4.6 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, compared with a median of 6.8 acres in the nation’s 13 most densely populated areas, according to the Trust for Public Land. Of the five boroughs, Brooklyn has the second least amount of parkland per person, after Manhattan, officials from the parks department say.

As the city’s Department of Design and Construction prepares an environmental assessment for the parks department and the Design Commission, which has final approval over the plans, neighbors have gathered more than 12,000 signatures on a petition opposing the project.

“This is an enormous project that should be in a commercial area,” said Geoffrey Croft, executive director of NYC Park Advocates, a watchdog group that has joined the fray.

The two sides locked horns after the unveiling last year of the ambitious park redesign, by Grimshaw Architects, an international firm that specializes in public projects and environmental design. The estimated price tag is $64 million, with Mr. Markowitz’s office footing $54 million and the mayor’s office paying the rest.

The plan calls for rebuilding, moving and expanding the park’s playground and bathrooms and creating gardens and pathways and a storm-water system to prevent flooding. Yet those elements are eclipsed by the proposed 65,000-square-foot amphitheater, which would replace the 8,000-square-foot band shell now used for free concerts in July and August.


Grimshaw’s plan calls for a saddle-shape roof, rising eight stories at its highest point, over an elevated stage, and seating for 5,000. The amphitheater would be set 22 feet above the ground and include an open 29,000-square-foot lawn area that would accommodate an additional 3,000 people.

Proponents argue that very few trees will be lost to make room for the project and that the only net loss of green space would be the 22,000 square feet reserved for accommodations backstage.

But many residents say the project’s sheer size would undermine their tranquil buffer between the Coney Island Boardwalk and the New York Aquarium on one side and residential buildings on the other.

Parents have objected to relocating the playground closer to the street and traffic fumes. And older residents say they fear their sleepy park could wind up providing entertainment year-round to justify the cost of the amphitheater.

Yet some residents view the project in a positive light. “Anything would be better than now,” said Philip Snyder, 24, who was walking his dog in the park recently. He noted the park’s state of disrepair, including missing benches and a patch of dust in front of the band shell. “It’d make the place a lot nicer and increase the price of homes.”

Many other residents say they would also like to see the park fixed up — without the amphitheater. But they have a tough opponent in Mr. Markowitz, 65, who has promoted the free concerts for decades and serves as the master of ceremonies at Asser Levy. Already he has Ms. King, Mr. Diamond and Lionel Ritchie on his concert wish list.

“They don’t want anything that attracts anyone who doesn’t live a block away,” he said of the opponents. “I’m not going to allow folks who have such narrow vision to stop the future.”


Adrian Benepe, the city’s commissioner of parks, said that efforts would be made to address the neighborhood’s concerns, but that residents were up against a long tradition of live music in the city’s green spaces.

“The life of New York takes place in its parks,” he said. “It’s our common backyard. It’s an often boisterous place — that’s what makes them fun and safe.”

“What we have to remember,” he added, “is that parks just don’t serve immediate neighborhoods. Parks are citywide resources.”

Yet opponents may have found a weapon in the city’s administrative code. A provision bans the use of amplified sound within 500 feet of a school or church during hours of classroom work or worship, and Mr. Turk said his synagogue would seek to have it enforced during the Sabbath, Friday night and Saturday.

In a hallowed New York tradition, even the park’s location has become politically charged: residents say it is in Brighton Beach, and the city says Coney Island.
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  #165  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2010, 3:54 PM
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http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/b...UpCU22W5NY9hUJ

Coney Island Parachute Jump - No climbing allowed!

By Joe Maniscalco
February 15, 2010


“Brooklyn’s Eiffel Tower” will soon be outfitted with new “anti-climbing” devices designed to thwart anyone (are you listening, Spidey?) from scaling the 262-foot-tall steel edifice.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation says that the safeguards are just a type of fencing that is “relatively unobtrusive” and will not detract from the 170-ton tower’s iconic figure.

“Not like a chain-link [fence], more attractive and designed,” EDC spokesperson Libby Langsdorf told this newspaper.

Last week this paper reported that the Landmarks Preservation Commission had approved permits allowing EDC to affix “anti-climbing” devices directly onto the Parachute Jump.

The city expects there will be a lot more foot traffic around the base of the Parachute Jump when Coney Island’s beloved B&B Carousel finally reappears inside Steeplechase Plaza - possibly for the 2012 season.


The Parachute Jump, moved to its present location between West 16th and West 19th streets after the 1939-40 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, is already enclosed with a fence to keep people out.

In recent years, however, at least one daredevil has successfully managed to scale the tower on more than one occasion and hang a flag on the structure.

The last incident occurred over the summer.

“Right now, the Jump is enclosed by a fence, deterring individuals from vandalizing or climbing it,” Parks Department spokesperson Phil Abramson said. “However, under the redesign for Steeplechase Plaza, the Jump will be in more of a more active, open space area, necessitating the need for such anti-climbing devices.”

City officials also hope to introduce a new lighting system to the Parachute Jump in an effort to “bling it up.”

Borough President Marty Markowitz allocated $1.4 million in capital funding four years ago to design the Parachute Jump’s existing lighting scheme.

The beep has also long harbored hopes of re-activating the Parachute Jump as a thrill ride someday.

It was declared a landmark in 1977 and again in 1989 after questions about its structural integrity were proven unfounded.

In 1991, the tower, originally brought to Coney Island by George C. Tilyou, benefited from a $700,000 restoration project aimed at cleaning and strengthening the structure.

New York City landmarks just seem to attract daredevils. Back in 2006, base jumper Jeb Corliss was busted when he attempted to hurl himself off the Empire State Building’s 86th floor’s observation deck.

He later sued the city for the arrest.
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  #166  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2010, 2:13 PM
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http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/b...nBNxwyPlE5RjBN

Coney Island to add new amusement park, with 19 new rides

By RICH CALDER
February 16, 2010


It may have been snowing today, but Mayor Bloomberg had summer on his mind.

Hizzoner gleefully unveiled 23 new Coney Island rides — including a "human sling shot" — that he said will revive the long rundown seaside area.

Bloomberg said 19 of the rides, which will be part of the new Luna Park, are set to open in May at the former Astroland site.

Luna Park, named after the once-famous Coney Island playground that closed in 1944, will offer an array of thrills from a kiddie coaster to the newly announced "Air Race" — where riders soar and barrel roll around a control tower.

And by mid-2011, four more rides will open as part of a separate amusement area called Scream Zone. The long-vacant Stillwell Avenue lot will showcase two rollercoasters, go-karts and a "human sling shot" where riders are launched a stomach-churning 200 feet in the air.


"Coney Island is coming back big time!" Bloomberg declared at the New York Aquarium while announcing a 10-year lease with Central Amusement International.

CAI — which operates Victorian Gardens in Central Park — is leasing 6.2 acres from the city for $100,000 a year over ten years. The city will also reel in about several hundred thousand dollars more a year from its cut of the gross receipts, a city official told The Post.

The company will invest $30 million to build and operate the new rides by renowned Italian amusement designer Antonio Zamperla.

"Coney Island has long been a place of innovative thrills and attractions," said CAI Vice President Peter Pelle. "Our dedicated team will work with the city to revitalize this iconic New York destination to make it a must-see attraction for locals and visitors from around the world."

The attractions are expected to attract nearly nine million visitors over the next 10 years who will spend over $100 million. The total economic impact on the area could reach $200 million.

The rides will create about 330 jobs by 2011, Bloomberg said.

The city was only able to move forward with the plan after shelling out $95.6 million in November to developer Joe Sitt for nearly seven acres of prime boardwalk land, including the Astroland property.

The new rides will be part of the city’s newly rezoned 27-acre entertainment and amusement district, which also includes the landmark Cyclone roller coaster and Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. The district is part of a 45-acre Coney Island rezoning that is also set to bring more than 5,000 units of new housing.

Upon completion of the 10-year lease, the city will select a developer to build a permanent amusement park.


And while Bloomberg was excited over the anticipated arrival of the new rides, he isn’t looking to jump on any right away.

"The ride that I have a desire to get on is the Nathan’s hot dog line," he joked.

Luna Park will operate Memorial Day through at least Labor Day, from noon to midnight daily. There will be no entrance fee, and Pelle said tickets for individual rides won't be expensive.

_____________

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/b...AdoSG0T5mMna3K





The “Scream Zone at Coney Island” will provide additional attractions - including two roller coasters, a human slingshot and go-kart rides.


“Coney Island remains one of the most known and beloved neighborhoods around the world, but for decades its famed amusement park has dwindled to just a tiny fraction of what it once was," said Mayor Bloomberg. "This summer, we're reversing the trend."


The new park is part of the city's Coney Island Revitalization Plan, which will preserve and grow the historic area as well as create jobs.



The park -- dubbed "Luna Park at Coney Island -- will feature 19 rides, including "Air Race," which will make its international debut by the summer of 2011.



____________________________________

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...ew_rides_.html

Coney Island will get two new amusement parks, 23 new rides

BY Erin Durkin
February 16th 2010

Coney Island is reaching into its storied past for its bright new future.

With 19 rides, Luna Park - the name of the original amusement mecca until 1944 - will open Memorial Day, Mayor Bloomberg said Tuesday on the Boardwalk where Astroland once stood.

"We will have rides that will flip you, turn you, launch you, drop you, splash you," said David Galst, operations manager for Central Amusement International, which will run the park along with Italian ride giant Zamperla.

Highlights include:

• The Air Race: It spins riders around a pole while flipping them head over heels in barrel rolls.

• Surf's Up: Riders balance on a surfboard and ride a 90-foot wave.

• The Tickler: Modeled after the original Luna Park's Tickler, cars rotate in circles as they speed over the coaster track's twists and turns.

• Midi Discovery: A giant pendulum will swing riders 60 feet in the air.

The park will have a grand entranceway festooned with crescent moons, just like the one that drew thousands of visitors for the first half of the 20th century before the park burned down in 1944.

And there will be a second new park called Scream Zone next summer, with two new steel roller coasters - one with upside down loops - as well as go-karts and a human slingshot that will launch riders 200 feet in the air.


"Coney Island is coming back big time," Bloomberg said, noting his favorite attraction will always be an old one.

"The ride that really I have a desire to get on at Coney Island is the Nathan's hot dog line," the mayor said.

The city ended a years-long impasse with developer Thor Equities in November and struck a $95.6 million deal to buy 6.9 acres of land for the new park, including the site of the former Astroland, which closed in 2008.

Galst said his company may even try to reopen the iconic Astro Tower.

"We're investigating how we can make it operational once again as a ride," he said.

CAI and Zamperla will lease the space from the city for 10 years for $100,000 a year, spending another $30 million to build Luna Park and Scream Zone.

After that, the city will look for a permanent developer to turn turn Coney into a year-round ride, entertainment and retail destination - in line with a massive development plan passed by the City Council last summer.
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  #167  
Old Posted Feb 18, 2010, 2:35 AM
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http://www.nypost.com/p/new_beer_cel...8llQ3PnLrqQXWO

New beer celebrates Coney’s planned Luna Park

February 17, 2010
By RICH CALDER

Shmaltz Brewing Co., the makers of popular Coney Island Craft Lagers, announced yesterday that it is brewing up a new beer being named after a new amusement park heading to the seaside area.

As Mayor Bloomberg was announcing plans for a new Luna Park heading to Coney lsland, the beer company was also revealing its summer release of their own new attraction: Coney Island Luna Lager.

Luna Lager commemorates the launch of the new Luna Park 2010, and brings to life a delicious newcomer to their award-winning craft lager lineup for the community to enjoy this summer at America’s Playground,” said Shmaltz spokesperson Jesse P. Cutler.

Luna Park, named after the once-famous Coney Island playground that closed in 1944, will offer an array of thrills from a kiddie coaster to the newly announced "Air Race" -- where riders soar and barrel roll around a control tower.

Proceeds from Coney Island Craft Lagers continue to help nonprofit Coney Island USA. Coney Island Luna Lager will be available this summer throughout New York City in 22 oz. bottles and a very limited supply of kegs at specialty shops and select bars.
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  #168  
Old Posted Feb 18, 2010, 3:19 PM
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http://www.lvtsg.com/imho/2010/02/ex...n-summer-2010/

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As part of planned infrastructure improvements, the City will invest $6.6 million in site preparation and basic infrastructure to support the ongoing redevelopment of the neighborhood. In addition, CAI will invest about $30 million: $3 million for additional site preparation, more than $15 million to open Luna Park and more than $12 million to open the Scream Zone. The new amusement park will be operational by Memorial Day and remain open daily until Labor Day and weekends through Columbus Day for its inaugural season.

“Today is a major milestone for Coney Island. Not long ago, we were celebrating the adoption of a comprehensive rezoning as a first step towards the restoration of Coney Island’s title as the world’s greatest open and accessible urban amusement park,” said City Planning Commissioner Burden. “We are following through with this commitment with the announcement that the new Luna Park will open this summer. This park is the first step towards a permanent year round 27-acre amusement and entertainment district.”

Luna Park at Coney Island will reestablish the area as an amusement park destination offering 19 new mechanical rides from Antonio Zamperla S.p.A., games, food and beverage concessions, and live entertainment. Four new prototype rides will have their debut in 2010 including Air Race, where riders will soar and barrel roll around a control tower; and the Speedy Coaster, a gravity coaster designed especially for families. In addition, the iconic Astrotower will be repurposed and utilized as signage to draw visitors to the area. By summer 2011, the Scream Zone will expand the park’s entertainment offerings by introducing four additional thrill rides, including the debut of two new roller coasters.
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  #169  
Old Posted Feb 18, 2010, 4:01 PM
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I like how it's similar to the original entrance.



ebay
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  #170  
Old Posted Feb 18, 2010, 4:11 PM
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^ Nice find. Looks like the new one will be a little smaller. But it will be interesting to see how soon they will get this up. A little more than 3 months until the opening. I expect there will be some activity soon. This is the beginning of a reversal in the trend that saw Coney Island's amusements slowly diminish over the years to almost nothing last year. It really will be a rebirth.
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  #171  
Old Posted Feb 22, 2010, 2:46 PM
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http://amusingthezillion.com/2010/02...-job-openings/

Coney Island’s Luna Park Launches Blog Site, Lists Job Openings



February 22, 2010 by Tricia

Luna Park Coney Island’s new website and blog debuted last week on the same day as Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference at the Aquarium announcing the new park. Renderings of four of the park’s new rides, including a Mega Disk’O and a roller coaster, were released to the press. Sources said that Central Amusement International (CAI) will be releasing details of the ride line up little by little over the next 100 days—now 95 days and counting till opening day. CAI is ride manufacturer Zamperla’s subsidiary for park operations and also operates Victorian Gardens in Central Park.

This is where some of the announcements will appear: Luna Park Coney Island NYC’s blog, which for the moment consists of an introductory post:

Central Amusement International, LLC is excited to be chosen by the NYCEDC to be a part of the revitalization of Coney Island. Our dedicated team is working hard to bring you Luna Park this summer, a new amusement park filled with new thrill and family rides, opening in May on Memorial Day Weekend. We are thrilled in becoming the newest destination for Coney Island visitors and look forward to seeing you all at Luna Park this summer. Keep checking our blog for the latest Luna Park updates.

Looking for a fun summer job? The Luna Park website already has job descriptions and downloadable applications. Job opportunities include ride and game operator, ticketseller, retail and logistics associate. The City’s press release about the new amusement park says “in its inaugural season Luna Park is projected to create 247 new jobs in Coney Island, increasing to 330 full and part time positions in 2011, with an emphasis on local hiring.”

The new park will have 19 new rides for 2010 and is scheduled to open on May 29. The rest of Coney Island–the Cyclone Roller Coaster, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park (22 rides), McCullough’s Kiddie Park (12 rides), 12th Street Amusements (4 rides), Eldorado Bumper Cars and Arcade, Coney Island Sideshow, Coney Island Arcade and games, and other independently owned businesses–will open as usual for the season on Palm Sunday, which is March 28th. Hope to see you at both opening days!

WEBSITE: http://www.lunaparknyc.com/
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  #172  
Old Posted Feb 24, 2010, 2:03 AM
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Casting a different light...

http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2010/...re-not-a-hoax/

It’s Real! Brighton Beach’s Jersey Shore Not A Hoax

by Ned Berke on Feb 23rd, 2010

Quote:
We just got off the phone with Elina Miller, the creator of the Brighton Beach reality show that’s drawing parallels to Jersey Shore, who confirmed that the planned series is bonafide.

Miller is working alongside Alina Dizik and Christine Mahin to produce the show, and they’re aiming to make more than just a Jersey Shore clone with swapped-out ethnicities. She said the show hopes to introduce Russian-Americans – and the intricacies of their culture – to a broader audience.

“While some of the stereotypes may have merit, I’m trying to show that [the community is] a lot more complex,” Miller said.

Miller described her “altruistic” goal as turning stereotypes on their head and “showing people that while there might be some things that they would expect, it’s about more than meets the eye.”

But the 25-year-old Russian-American realizes that it’s about entertainment, and the appealing elements of reality shows are cross-cultural.

“One thing that’s common across all cultures is the desire young people have to have fun, to unleash,” and Brighton Beach may not be different in that regard, she said.
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  #173  
Old Posted Mar 8, 2010, 12:37 AM
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The action should start this week...

http://www.ny1.com/7-brooklyn-news-c...ey-island-park
NY1 Exclusive: Developer Describes Plans For New Coney Island Park

By: Jeanine Ramirez
03/05/2010

Quote:
In less than 90 days, a brand new amusement park will rise from the rubble of Coney Island. It will be called "Luna Park," and the entrance will be reminiscent of the famed Luna Park of old.

The planned entrance of Luna Park. In his very first interview with the New York media, President Valerio Ferrari of Central Amusement International gave NY1 an exclusive tour of the site and detailed his vision for the new incarnation of Coney Island.

On Monday, Central Amusement will officially take over this property from the city. The developer plans to dig out the asphalt, put down wiring and start building a new foundation.

The rides will arrive from Italy around mid-April and Ferrari vowed they will be up and running by May 29,
when Coney Island officially opens for the summer on the Memorial Day weekend.

Ferrari's ambitious plans don't stop with the amusement park. He says next year he will take over some of the concession stands on the famed boardwalk and also develop lots along both sides of Stillwell Avenue for amusements. Ferrari said he plans to run the two parcels of land as one park called "Scream Zone."

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  #174  
Old Posted Mar 11, 2010, 4:40 AM
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http://www.yournabe.com/articles/201...stroreboot.txt

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Get ready to ride, Brooklyn.

In just a few short weeks, new thrill machines from Italian manufacturer Zamperla will start appearing in Coney Island.

Central Amusements International (CAI), an off-shoot of Zamperla, took control of the old Astroland site on Surf Avenue this week and is now preparing to install a new foundation in support of a 21st century version of “Luna Park.”

Don’t start saving your pennies for a ride on the Astro Tower’s revolving observation deck - at least not yet.

After consulting with engineers, CAI has determined that they will not be able to reboot the Astro Tower as an amusement ride this year.

The Coney Island History Project has also been in talks with CAI about the possibly of reactivating the dormant Astro Tower left behind after Astroland Amusement Park folded.

ADVERTISEMENTA spokesperson for CAI told this newspaper that reactiving the Astro Tower is something the ride operators “would love to do”perhaps sometime in the future.

For now, CAI is planningto incoporate the soaring structure into “Luna Park’s” new decorative designs.
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Old Posted Mar 15, 2010, 2:58 PM
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http://www.observer.com/2010/commerc...coney-constant

A Coney Constant



By Emily Geminder
March 15, 2010

Quote:
On Palm Sunday, the Coney Island Cyclone will clank, sputter and tilt into motion, careening its shrieking cargo around clattering curves and ushering in the new season. The whole neighborhood, rusty gears and all, will churn into motion, the same way it has for years. And like every other season in recent memory, the death of Coney Island—foretold for decades by disgruntled developers, reporters and Mermaid Paraders alike—will be deferred to a later date.

But this year the quiet sigh of recognition that comes each spring, that, yes, the place is still there, after all, is different. This summer, the first new rides will appear since the dismantling of Astroland, and with them, many have declared the coming of a new Coney Island, a Coney Island risen, reborn. A few have even called off the decades-old ritual of promising the near and certain end.

New Yorkers forecast the deaths of neighborhoods, scenes, avenues, authenticity. But the Coney Island doomsday prophecy has become a rite all its own. Coney Island, it long seemed, was always just a season away from swift and utter extinction. Carny barkers and snake charmers were a dart toss from the unemployment line. Bold new development plans were perpetually spelling apocalyptic doom. And through it all, Coney Island groaned on.

Because as much as New Yorkers like to eulogize its corners, the city won't stay still long enough. The unchanging law of eight million is relentless, unceasing change itself.

On Coney Island, history is not a tale of reinvention so much as absolute obliteration and genesis. A pronouncement from The New York Times: "Coney Island is regenerated, and almost every trace of Old Coney Island has been wiped out. Frankfurters, peanuts, and popcorn were among the few things left to represent the place as it was in the old days." That was 1904.

....This summer's heralded Luna Park, contracted out by the city to multinational park operator Zamperla, is a temporary stand-in for the city's ultimate revitalization, which could take years, even decades to be realized. In the meantime, it's not so much a new Coney Island, a regenerated Coney Island, or a Coney Island back from the dead. It's a Coney Island with a few things new and many things the same. The frankfurters, peanuts, and popcorn are still there.

....On the far western end of the island, where, as Munsey's magazine put it in 1905, things were "most vulgar and squalid," George Tilyou built his enclosed Steeplechase Park, a den of family-friendly amusements named for its mechanical horse tracks. Saddled atop metal horses, riders raced around an undulating track, traversing rivers and all manner of synthetic landscapes. "If Paris is France," Tilyou said, "Coney Island, between June and September, is the world." To enter this world, visitors passed over mechanical flooring that simulated an earthquake, toppling its patrons to the floor.

Another popular Steeplechase attraction, a ride called Trip to the Moon, was created by the young duo Fred Thompson and Skip Dundy. When they decided they weren't being compensated fairly by Tilyou, Thompson and Dundy used elephants to haul their contraption to the site of another park, then bankrupt. (Later, one of the elephant herd's more spirited members, Topsy, was electrocuted by Thomas Edison.) The two opened Luna Park in 1903, an "Electric Eden" of minarets, domes, turrets, "architecture of every known and many unknown species," as a Times reporter observed in 1908. The towers multiplied by the year, sprouting into an early incandescent skyline and presaging Manhattan's vertical density. In 1907, there were 1,326 towers by Thompson's count, all lit up by more than a million bulbs.

....For all the worlds built and destroyed on Coney Island, the hardware shop that churned out the requisite slats and scaffolding remained standing, impervious to the real blazes that consumed Dreamland in 1911 and later Luna Park, too. Despite objections from the Taxpayers Alliance, city officials built Coney Island's first public bathhouse adjacent to the scorched Dreamland site, a collection of tumbledown shacks still selling beer and popcorn. The success of the public bathhouse coupled with Dreamland's mess of debris fueled the city's determination to create a public shoreline. The years that followed brought a series of protracted battles between public and private interests, though, of course, Coney Island never stopped for those, either.

LATELY, OLD CONEY Island rivalries—Dreamland, Luna Park, municipal interests—have taken on new meanings. In some ways it's just a matter of old names yanked up again, revived, but they're also names that speak to still potent tensions and their ideological inheritance. Coney Island has always been a place of reinvention, though in talking about its future, we can't seem to get away from the "old Coney Island," whatever that may be. It's more a question of which old Coney Island we'd like it to be. A private Coney Island or a public one? Sodom by the Sea or City of Light?
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  #176  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2010, 1:44 PM
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http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...%28NY+Local%29

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus returning to Coney Island after deal with landlord



BY Erin Durkin
March 17th 2010

Quote:
The circus is back in town.

After months of wrangling, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has struck a deal to return to Coney Island this summer.

"We're very excited to have the circus back. It's a great draw," said Councilman Dominic Recchia (D-Coney Island), who said the show would run from June through Labor Day.

Circus officials declined to comment before papers were signed to make the deal official, but they previously promised that if they were able to come to Coney, they'd put on a brand new show called "Illuscination."

The circus will join a new Luna Park, with 19 rides made by Italian amusement giant Zamperla, at the other end of the Boardwalk. Officials hope to make "The Greatest Show on Earth" an annual Coney attraction.
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  #177  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2010, 3:01 PM
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Who does this Ferrari guy think he is stealing names and such with not so much as a shout out? Why I ought to tell ya...

In other news, I am pumped by how quick this is all transpiring. Hopefully admission will be reasonable, great date idea for the summer.
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Old Posted Mar 17, 2010, 3:30 PM
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This thread is very interesting. I am fascinated by the photos and lore of the Luna Park of old.
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  #179  
Old Posted Mar 18, 2010, 2:36 AM
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Originally Posted by MolsonExport View Post
This thread is very interesting. I am fascinated by the photos and lore of the Luna Park of old.
With just over a couple of months until the new Luna Park opens, I would like to see some weekly updates of how the put it all together, what exactly their layout will be. I know that the added coasters won't be open until next year. But the Cyclone will join its new neighbor for business this season..

http://www.nypost.com/p/cyclone_set_...u5kCx0etyc3dkK

Cyclone set to roll again, but operator says Astroland return 'unlikely'

March 17, 2010
By RICH CALDER

Quote:
Carol Albert says she expects the landmark Cyclone roller coaster to make a big comeback this summer with the anticipated opening of the new Luna Park next door.

...The Cyclone is set to roll in the 2010 season March 28 during a gala event highlighted by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz cracking a bottle of egg cream on the 83-year-old ride.

...“With the arrival of the new Luna Park, this truly will be one of the most exciting summers in Coney in a long time,” said Albert, whose family has been operating the roller coaster since 1975 through a lease with the city.

The Cyclone has been a city landmark since 1988 and is one of only 17 roller coasters in the world that the American Coaster Enthusiasts have designated as an “ACE Roller Coaster Landmark,” an award reserved for rides of historical significance.

“I can’t wait for opening day and the first ride on the Cyclone! It’s become a tradition I look forward to all winter long,” said Angie Pontani, the reigning “Miss Cyclone.”

The burlesque performer favors the front car and always manages to emerge from the thrilling ride without a hair out of place.

After opening day, the Cyclone is open daily from March 29 to April 6 and from May 14 through Labor Day.

The Cyclone is open weekends only from April 7 to May 13, and after Labor Day through the end of September. Ticket prices are $8 for the first ride and $5 for additional rides. Hours are noon till closing.
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  #180  
Old Posted Mar 18, 2010, 2:46 AM
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Update from the website...
http://lunaparknyc.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

We are in the door...literally!!

Last week, Central Amusement International, received the keys to Luna Park. We are officially in the door, and so excited about it! Grounds are now clear, and construction will commence shortly.

At only 78 days away from the grand opening on Memorial Day weekend we have been busy as bees, working hard to bring Coney Island its much anticipated Luna Park. As the warm summer days approach us, we are looking forward to thrilling our visitors with 19 new rides, interactive games, tasty concessions and live entertainment. Check out below what our entrance from Surf Ave will look like, as well as some of the rides, which we will bring to you this summer.

Visitors will be able to enter Luna Park for FREE as no admission fee will be charged at the gate. To ride the attractions visitors can simply pay per attraction, or even more exciting yet, purchase an unlimited ride wristband to ride all rides unlimited. The unlimited ride wristband will be available on both weekdays and weekends. With the wristband visitors will be able to sample all the rides, and ride continuously without any limitations!!
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