By Chloë Ashby 9/21/12 4:42pm

Sodom by the Sea

The Thunderbolt in 1995.

Hold the Applause: Coney Island Calls for Entertainment Encore on Old Thunderbolt Site

Called “the People’s Playground,” Coney Island is perhaps the most popular piece of New York City’s entertainment puzzle, Times Square and the Bowery having been thoroughly scrubbed of any excitement the past few decades. Chic and refined it’s not—at least not yet—but in terms of crowds, ice cream cones, corn dogs and cheap(ish) amusements, this corner of the city is the one calling.

The season may be over, but the enthusiams persists.

Today, the city’s Economic Development Corporation announced an RFP seeking the development and operation of new amusement rides, game booths and other entertainment attractions at a vacant site at the heart of the Coney’s amusement hub. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/21/11 3:04pm

Greensward

Horsing around. (Billy Farrell Agency)

Adrian Benepe, Parks Commissioner and Carousel Aficionado

At last week’s opening of Jane’s Carousel, perhaps the only person more excited than the legion of children and Ms. Walentas herself was Adrian Benepe, the city’s Parks Department Commissioner. “I guess it comes with the territory of being a conservator of carousels,” Mr. Benepe told The Observer, finishing off the last of his bag of popcorn. By Mr. Benepe’s count, there are now at least 10, perhaps 12, carousels in the city, depending on how you count them. With the exception of one at Coney Island, all are found in the city’s parks. Read More