Brooklyn Bugle » coney island

Coney Island’s Luna Park Reopens After Hurricane Sandy’s Mayhem

Homer Fink — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:14:32 +0000

Following the reopening of Red Hook’s Fairway Market March 1—which was all but wiped out by October’s Hurricane Sandy—there’s more good news for the borough. Heights locals looking to hop the R train for Coney Island’s seasonal goodies now have an official green light. Last Sunday, the Luna Park rides reopened, after being washed over with 5 feet of seawater.

The BK Chamber of Commerce shares that “Coney Island’s colorful rides only just emerged from an extensive rehabilitation. Workers were still finishing the repairs when families began to crowd the entrances on Sunday morning.”

Alberto Zamperla, CEO of the firm that operates Luna Park, tells the New York Times, which covered the reopening, “Our commitment after the hurricane, from Day 1, was to be ready on time for this event.” The rehab included everything from replacing electrical systems to dumping go-carts brined in seawater.

In attendance for opening day were state Senator Charles E. Schumer and Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz.

Luna is one of two privately owned amusement parks that opened in Coney Island on Sunday. Much more in the NYT story.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/56753

Coney Island Boobies: The Mermaid Parade 2012

Homer Fink — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 02:17:53 +0000

A half million folks crowded Coney Island today for the 30th annual Mermaid Parade. The beloved march of self expression is a rite of summer in Brooklyn and this year was no exception. Check out reactions from around the Twittersphere or whatever the kids today are calling it as well as Brooklyn Bugle photos by Tim Schreier.

(Featured photo by Tim Schreier)

Created with flickr slideshow.

View the story “Tale of the Tweets: Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade 2012″ on StorifyTale of the Tweets: Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade 2012#BrooklynStorified by Brooklyn Bugle · Sat, Jun 23 2012 22:08:14Do you know it’s legal to go topless in NYC? #ConeyIsland #MermaidParade http://pic.twitter.com/KYbUhT5PPatti NorbergOccupy Wall Street at the Mermaid Parade 2012.rosalie1942Never a dull moment in NYC!!ny10acI uploaded a @YouTube video http://youtu.be/VM5WYFWJZHA?a Coney Island Mermaid Parade 2012Paul GillingwaterMermaid!! #mermaidparade #igers #instaday #instagood #instamood #iphonesia @ Coney Island Beach & Boardwalk http://instagr.am/p/MPKz0wiqtp/M A N G O#mermaidparade http://instagr.am/p/MPLSinrn1h/Kristen BlushPainted Mermaids #mermaidparade #igers #instaday #instagood #instamood #iphonesia #coneyisla @ Coney Island http://instagr.am/p/MPLi8DCquL/M A N G OMarge Simpson, you’ve never looked sexier than you do at Coney Island. #MermaidParade http://pic.twitter.com/OEsFn8HbTed GeogheganMermaidman #ConeyIsland #MermaidParade http://pic.twitter.com/6P7BQsKBPatti Norberg#mermaidparade @ Coney Island http://instagr.am/p/MPNpf4LU93/Lacey HueyMermaid Parade! #mermaidparade #coneyisland #summer #nyc http://instagr.am/p/MPNkxCOIk4/B*MarieA #Unicorn at the #MermaidParade at #ConeyIsland. The best costume there was not a mermaid! @ Coney Island http://instagr.am/p/MPQc8Qlody/ChristineThis girl was doing the hula hoop on stilts! @ Mermaid Parade http://instagr.am/p/MPQrMdBkb1/Amanda SarahMore action at Mermaid Parade! http://instagr.am/p/MPB8f6L-9w/Sarah E. PattersonJust posted a photo @ Mermaid Parade http://instagr.am/p/MPRgC9rF1V/Punk PoneyThe lovely sailor girl @ the 2012 Mermaid Parade in Coney Island http://pic.twitter.com/zczlNdpHJohnny W. LamJust posted a photo @ Mermaid Parade http://instagr.am/p/MPR3JxBkch/Amanda SarahJust posted a photo @ Mermaid Parade http://instagr.am/p/MPR_CnBkcl/Amanda SarahThey got their spot for the Mermaid Parade @ Coney Island http://instagr.am/p/MPR_CvB1yq/Trish BadgerJust posted a photo @ Mermaid Parade http://instagr.am/p/MPSJnkhkcs/Amanda SarahJust posted a photo @ Mermaid Parade http://instagr.am/p/MPSO33hkcz/Amanda SarahMermaid ParadeConey Island http://pic.twitter.com/aGh2l7h4GabriellaMermaid Parade @ Coney Island http://instagr.am/p/MPSxckwEg1/DANA STORM SANTIAGOMermaid ParadeConey Island..in mezzo a tutte queste facce….io mi nascondo tra la gente..#ilComico http://pic.twitter.com/IpU9qbl6Gabriella@iamdiddy this how we do Mermaid parade!! #coneyisland http://pic.twitter.com/RD2tBxgaPierre Ellis

Swimming with the Coney Island Polar Bears

Jonah Eller-Isaacs — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:50:44 +0000

Your intrepid correspondent has, in the past, talked a big game about his winter swimming capabilities – but it’s only this year that I managed to make it to the Coney Island Polar Bear Swim on New Year’s Day. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting – a few brave souls, a cadre of hirsute Russians warmed with vodka, a risque bather or two perhaps. What with the impending eviction of the soul of the Coney Island boardwalk (Ruby’s, Shoot the Freak etc.), it seemed that was the year to head down to the beach. And I was not alone in that sentiment.

The warm weather – temperatures were near the 50s – surely spurred the less adventurous to join the throng. Or was it nostalgia that brought the teeming thousands to the blustery beach? Much has been written regarding the rapidly changing face of Coney Island, as a wave of development crashes upon the shore for the umpteenth time. Though I’ve missed out on years past, this year the parade of bathers felt like a fist in the air, a signal that no matter the changing face of the boardwalk institutions, Coney Island will forever be a refuge for the tattooed and costumed among us.

I emailed some friends who were present and their sentiments were similar. Says Aliene de Souza Howell:

I’d been wanting to join the Polar Bears for years because my grandfather was a member. He always described it as him and his friends going for an invigorating dip. So, I was shocked when, waiting in front of Nathan’s for my friend Elena to join me, I watched hundreds of people going past me, in various states of undress and costumes. Running down the snow covered beach, we were giddy and freezing, sandwiched in between Latin-American families, pot bellied Eastern European men, tattooed body builders, people clad in superhero costumes and everyone in between.
Elena and I immediately made plans to come back next year with more friends and costumes. It was a rare display of unbiased camaraderie that was free, sober, and in the middle of the afternoon. We came back to the boardwalk to dry off and get warm in front of small “Save Coney Island” posters affixed to the historic brightly colored hand-painted signs. It was perhaps the only thing that could have dampened our spirits as I doubted my grandkids would be able to come here as I had followed in my grandfather’s footsteps.

In case you’re wondering – yes, the water was incredibly cold. And yet there was something in the experience that warmed the soul. In the Japanese Shinto tradition, the rite of misogi, or ritual purification, is undertaken to wash away sin, and the Jewish mikveh is similar. Though the Polar Bear Swim lacks the codified structure of a ritual cleansing – and though some might disagree, I didn’t feel I had any particular sins to wash away – the plunge into the Atlantic was surely a refreshing way to start the new year. I’ll be back next year, regardless of what businesses are holding court atop the boardwalk’s wooden slats.