In a key victory for the campaign to preserve Coney Island’s endangered heritage, the state office responsible for historic preservation has declared that Coney Island’s amusement district meets the criteria for recognition as a historic district in the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
In an August 12 letter, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation wrote that “the historic core of Coney Island appears to meet the criteria for listing to the Registers as a historic district.” While this Determination of Eligibility does not protect the buildings within the district from demolition, inclusion on the registers of historic places could make grants and tax credits of up to 40% available for redevelopment projects that rehabilitate and reuse historic properties in the amusement area.
The letter arrives at a time when many of Coney Island’s most historically significant buildings are in imminent danger of demolition, with developer Thor Equities receiving a pair of demolition permits the day after the state issued its letter.
“The state’s findings powerfully affirm the tremendous historical significance of Coney Island’s amusement district and underscore the imperative to preserve its endangered heritage,” said Juan Rivero, spokesman for Save Coney Island. “They also offer a new economic impetus for historic preservation by offering the possibility of tax credits and grants for redevelopment that honors rather than demolishes Coney Island’s rich history.”
There has been such interest in our walking tour of Coney Island’s historic buildings, that we’ve decided to keep doing them.
The next one will be this Sunday. The guided tour will cover all the historic buildings along Surf Avenue, as well as some of Coney’s existing landmarks. Learn more about Coney Island’s rich history, the importance of preserving it, and what Save Coney Island is doing to protect what remains of this extraordinary heritage.
WHERE – In front of the Shore Theater, on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Aves
WHEN – Sunday, August 8th at 11:00 am FREE! (but suggested donation of $10 appreciated.) Read more…
Save Coney Island has developed a brand new & beautiful map of Coney Island for the Summer of 2010. In an effort to showcase Coney Island as the Playground of the World and draw attention to Coney Island’s endangered historic legacy, Save Coney Island teamed up with designer Naomi Donabedian to create a map that has all of the local attractions, a calendar of events, a brief history of Coney Island, and a summary of the current state of development in your favorite amusement destination.
Download an online-version of the map on the map page of our website.
CONTRIBUTE to help us pay for the printing of this map to make it available to the public for FREE!
Prominent historian of Coney Island Michael Immerso warns of the danger to Coney Island’s historic Surf Avenue corridor in an article just published on The Huffington Post. Immerso, author of “Coney Island: The People’s Playground,” writes:
Surf Avenue and the nearby Bowery were the core of Coney Island’s amusement district. This core district was not defined by its architecture but rather by its honky-tonk flavor: cafes, dime museums, dance halls, and sideshows. Henderson’s Music Hall, the Grashorn Building, and the Shore Hotel — all of which Thor is threatening to demolish — embody those uses and therefore are architecturally representative of this historically significant amusement district and certainly merit preservation. The Grashorn Building dates back to the 1880s, when Coney Island emerged as the world’s pre-eminent amusement mecca. Henderson’s is the last surviving example of the music halls that thrived at Coney Island at the turn of the century and were proving grounds for such iconic figures Harry Houdini, Irving Berlin, Jimmy Durante, and the Marx Brothers.
Eleven prominent historians of New York City have signed a letter urging the preservation of several historic Coney Island buildings currently threatened with demolition by developer Thor Equities.
Among the endangered buildings are several dating back more than a century, including both the amusement district’s oldest building and the music hall where Harpo Marx first performed with his brothers Groucho and Gummo.
“We believe that these historic buildings should be preserved, restored and reused,” the historians write. “Together, these buildings and other historic structures could serve as a historic core for a new 21st-century amusement district, tying Coney Island’s future to its rich past.” Read more…
There has been such interest in our walking tour of Coney Island’s historic buildings, that we’ve decided to keep doing them. So if you missed the first one, you get another chance…
The next one will be this Sunday. The guided tour will cover all the historic buildings along Surf Avenue, as well as some of Coney’s existing landmarks. Learn more about Coney Island’s rich history, the importance of preserving it, and what Save Coney Island is doing to protect what remains of this extraordinary heritage.
WHERE – In front of the Shore Theater, on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Aves
WHEN – Sunday, June 13th at 11:00 am FREE! (but suggested donation of $10 appreciated.) Read more…
The Daily News published an Op-Ed today from Save Coney Island’s Juan Rivero calling for the preservation and reuse of Coney Island’s historic buildings:
With the opening of the new Luna Park this weekend, Coney Island has welcomed its first new amusement park in nearly half a century. But even as Coney Island seems set to reclaim a measure of its former glory as “Playground of the World,” the few remaining physical vestiges of its storied past are at risk.
Today we released renderings demonstrating the great potential of historic structures in Coney Island currently threatened with demolition by developer Thor Equities.
The renderings imagine what two of Coney Island’s most historically significant buildings could become if they were preserved, restored and reused in the context of a revitalized Coney Island. They depict the Coney Island amusement district’s oldest surviving building, the Grashorn Building (built around 1889), and the Henderson’s Music Hall (built 1899), where Harpo Marx first publicly performed with his brothers Groucho and Gummo.
Developer Thor Equities has indicated that it plans to immediately begin demolishing these and other buildings that it owns along Surf Avenue. Save Coney Island, in coalition with other Coney Island and preservationist groups, has called for the creation of a Coney Island Historic District along Surf Avenue to safeguard these and other historic buildings.
“These renderings show that the historic buildings of Coney Island still have life in them and still have a future,” said Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council. “It’s now up to the City to say whether that’s better than acres of rubble.” To view these remarkable renderings, click the link below:
The first walking tour of Coney Island’s historic buildings was a tremendous success. We had thirty more participants than the twenty we expected.
Several people, at the walk and by email, strongly encouraged us to do these historic tours on a regular basis. We had expected this to be a one time thing to celebrate the opening of Luna Park. But given the level of interest, we’re hoping to organize a tour every few weeks — provided, of course, that Thor Equities has not torn down the historic buildings that we’re there to see. If you could not join us the first time around, we hope that you’ll join us next time!
If you missed this one, you can download the informative brochure we provided to tour-goers:
Also, here’s a short clip of one of the tours, led by Save Coney Island spokesperson Juan Rivero. Many thanks to the tour attendee who was kind enough to film and post this quick taste of the experience!
Save Coney Island today hailed the opening this weekend of Zamperla USA’s Luna Park as a key step toward the revitalization of Coney Island.
But, at the same time, Save Coney Island warned that Coney Island’s historic heritage is in grave danger, with speculator Thor Equities planning to demolish several of Coney Island’s most historically significant buildings.
“The opening of Luna Park is a cause for great celebration, a step toward restoring Coney Island to its glory days,” said Save Coney Island spokesman, Juan Rivero. “But at the same time, our celebration is tempered by the fact that the last remnants of those glory days are in danger of imminent demolition.” Read more…
