Positive, constructive news about Coney Island has been hard to find of late, so we take great pleasure in noting that the city is formally looking for someone to restore and rebuild the historic B&B Carousell. The beloved ride was saved from the auction block by the city in 2005 for $1.8 million. It will […]

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Kinetic Carnival is reporting that Astroland’s Carol Albert, who sold her amusement park to developer Joe Sitt last year for $30 million, is giving Thor Equities two weeks to renew her lease for the 2008 season. Kinetic writes that Ms. Albert has apparently “reached a limit to her patience” and that if a new lease […]

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We spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening wandering around Astroland, shooting photos and video. It was relatively uncrowded early in the afternoon and became much more crowded as the day went on. By evening, it was packed with people who turned out to say goodbye for the season and, possibly, forever. We had a […]

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Astroland’s last day of the season (and possibly forever) began with a protest calling on developer Joe Sitt to extend the amusement park’s life for another year. Blogger Adrian Kinloch captured these images of the event. You can find a photo gallery of his work here and coverage on his blog, Brit in Brooklyn, here. […]

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Around mid-afternoon yesterday, as we took a break from Astroland’s last day, we found the Zipper ride being driven away. People stopped and stared as it was driven west down Surf Avenue. It will end up in Honduras.

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Gowanus Lounge Analysis: Astroland in Coney Island opens today at noon, for what may be its last day ever. In an era of theme parks and corporate merchandising of amusements, it is a simple and charming anachronism, a reminder of an era whose time has gone. Astroland is the State Fair Midway and the carnival […]

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Today is Astroland’s closing day. The park opens at Noon and a demonstration calling on Thor Equities to keep the park open for another year is scheduled to start at the time. There will be Mariachis on the boardwalk from 4PM-6PM and the Hungry March Band will play at 6PM. Expect a crowd and reporters. […]

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On its last day of the season–and, possibly forever, if developer Joe Sitt does not agree to a one-year extension on its lease–here are a whole bunch of videos from the YouTube of Astroland.

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There is an important update in the still developing story of the roster of the Thor Equities Coney Island team. You might recall that, on Wednesday, Lee Silberstein of the Marino Organization, which has handled public relations for the embattled Coney Island redevelopment plan, let people know that he was no longer on the Thor […]

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This is a poster for tomorrow’s “One More Year for Astroland” protest. There are several others. Brit in Brooklyn has posted PDFs of the poster that can be downloaded and printed out. The event is tomorrow, 9/9 at Noon, at Astroland.

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Here is a set of photos posted on flickr by photographer dubsyuhs called Coney Island: Day and Night that caught our eye. They’re worth a look.

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Yesterday, we noted in a post on Curbed that Thor Equities and developer Joe Sitt had parted company with spokesperson Lee Silberstein and the Marino Organization. It was unclear who had initiated the split. This morning we can report, based on a tip from another reliable source, that Thor has also parted ways with Kramer […]

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Here’s the press release about the Astroland demonstration scheduled for Sunday at Noon on what could be the Coney amusement park’s last day ever: Community activist and former Community Board 13 Chairman Brian Gotlieb announced that he would be leading a protest in support of Astroland Amusement Park’s efforts to remain open for the 2008 […]

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You didn’t think that Astroland would go quietly, did you? A demonstration has been scheduled on Sunday, September 9, at “high noon” to show support for the park and to call for a one-year reprieve by developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities, which bought the park for $30 million last year. (Sunday is Astroland’s closing […]

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Something tells us it is going to be a very, very sad fall and winter in terms of watching Coney Island rides and attractions being dismantled and demolished on property owned by Thor Equities and developer Joe Sitt. Both the Zipper and the Spider rides were dismantled yesterday and driven away on flatbed trucks and […]

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We return to our Coney Island Death Watch series, which has been on hiatus for a while, to offer a few photos of the plywood that Thor Equities has put up recently in the windows of some of the Coney buildings that it owns. We do not mean to imply that Coney Island will be […]

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Yes, it’s a cheap attempt at a headline and/or a caption. Yet, it is virtually impossible to pass up the photo op when one finds an older model car with an upraised hood parked in front of one of Thor Equities “Future of Coney Island” banners on the big parcel of property on Stillwell Avenue […]

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Check out this video of a Coney Island lover’s “last ride” on the Astrotower. If Astroland closes for good on September 9, there will be many last rides this weekend.

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You might remember that Thor Equities and developer Joe Sitt reneged in July on an agreement to sell one of Coney Island’s oldest buildings to Coney Island USA to expand its museum. According to Mr. Zigun, discussions were at the contract stage for a $2.1 million purchase (which would have produced a $1 million profit […]

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We took in Dick Zigun’s “State of Coney Island” remarks on Sunday (and held them until everyone was back from the long weekend today). We summarize them in another post above, but here are some video excerpts for those of you that are interested.

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Coney Island, Brooklyn

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The official last day of the summer season wouldn’t be complete without some Coney Island videos. Here are some new ones recently posted to the YouTube. Enjoy.

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Here’s a pretty video of Coney Island at night from the Astrotower, that includes the Friday night fireworks as seen from above.

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[Photo courtesy of Bob Jagendorf/flickr]

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Coney Island, Brooklyn

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