Coney Island Update

On a total whim, the Countess and I trekked out to Coney Island after work the other night to see what we could see. Changes are afoot; questions remain.

I am rather bummed that Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circus has pulled their one ring edition out of the lot on the other side of MCU Park. I think the new Coney will be incomplete without a circus out there, at least for the summer months. I think either Big Apple Circus or Cole Brothers should get on the stick and plant themselves there for good. Cole Brothers had a good run out there for a couple of years. Big Apple might be an even better bet — a not-for-profit outfit, with a well-heeled board, they could make an excellent case for City support to pitch a tent out there all summer. Would it preclude their annual 5-borough tour? I guess…but wouldn’t the kids from the Bronx and Queens rather take an exciting annual subway ride out to Coney Island, where they could enjoy the full gamut of inexpensive attractions? I rest my case. (Unless I hear there ain’t gonna be no circus out there, in which event I will revive it!)

The Scream Zone is another step in the right direction. Two of the rides look heart-stoppingly terrifying; a third one (The Screamin’ Eagle) looks merely just plain ordinary terrifying. The fourth, the Steeplechase, a small roller coaster, looks possibly doable (even the Countess said so).

Numerous empty lots remain out there within the amusement district. I hope to heaven these are still earmarked for amusements — true amusements, not shopping and restaurants, which can easily be built on the outer perimeters of the amusement area over on Mermaid Avenue.

The most noteworthy development at the moment — the John Strong sideshow has opened up a small tent across West 12th Street from Coney Island USA. (Sadly it’s on the spot of the old bank building. I didn’t know it had been torn down. It had just the right look for a wax museum or some other such attraction. Ah, well.) Anyway, for three smackeroos we saw some amazing things: a live two-headed cow, a live six-legged cow, a live duck that seemed to have a foot growing out of its head, a live two-headed turtle, a deadly python, an enormous rabbit, a miniature horse (these last two were about the same size), many stuffed animal freaks (a two-head chicken that was clearly the product not of God but an imaginative taxidermist stands out in my memory), many embryo freaks in glass jars (called punks in the trade), some lurid photographs, and finally in the end, a very strange, disturbing cat woman who sticks a very small pair of scissors up her nose. She tried to talk to us, but we fled to Nathan’s for dinner. The Countess claims it was fish and chips made her ill; I maintain that it was the CURSE OF THE CAT WOMAN.

Anyway you slice it, the introduction of a second sideshow is a positive development. Back in the day, Coney had numerous such shows operating at the same time; I firmly believe that a fully revived Coney could support several. Never for a nanosecond do I wish harm on Coney Island USA which, truth to tell, is the absolute seed of Coney Island’s revival, the first and for a long time the only sign of growth and vitality in the entire area since the 1960s. But I think if anything such developments will have positive effects for CIUSA: 1) “More stuff” at Coney Island will attract more visitors to the district overall. Speaking personally, if I make a trip to Coney Island, I’m not choosing one sideshow or the other; I’m seeing both; also: 2) Competition is good. It’ll force both operators and any subsequent ones to keep thinking of new attractions to present.

Further, right now the two operations complement each other; they’re pretty different in fact. Dick’s place is an arts institution. It has an artistic director from Yale, and a professional academic museum director on its staff. It’s a 501 c 3 not-for-profit which receives public support. It’s a big outfit, with a large ground floor theatre, an upstairs museum, and a bar. Strong, on the other hand, is a carny. He was born and raised in a circus. The collection of oddities the Countess and I saw was seedy, down at the heels, and was (literally, I believe) right off the carnival fairgrounds. Strictly for-profit, his outfit is unbound by such niceties as educational or artistic mission statements, political correctness, or truth-in-advertising.

Apparently, Strong also presents a full 10-in-1 out there at different spots (as he did at Cha-Cha’s a few days ago). Also, his web site lists lots of big plans for the future, which he boasts has the support of Coney Island’s black-hatted real estate villain Joe Sitt. Right now the battle is amusing, but it will cease to be if dirty tricks are tried against our friends at CIUSA, so stay alert, readers!

Why would I suspect such doings? Well, anyone who’s followed the career or Joe Sitt knows there’s no calumny he wouldn’t stoop to…so anyone who would publicly snuggle up to him has got to be watched. Secondly, I just had a look at CIUSA’s Coney Island message board, and availed myself there to a heaping helping of Mr. Strong’s personality — a lot of pro-wrestling style chest-thumping and aggressive, competitive posturing and boasting and “I’m gonna bury you” type language. It’s hard to tell how much is show biz and how much is in earnest. Certainly, the folks from CIUSA are no strangers to “playing a role” in their public utterances. I think on a certain level Strong is trying to tease out a Barnum–Forepaugh style rivalry. It makes for good newspaper copy. But he’s in New York now, not a Georgia fairground. And it happens to be 2011. Consequently, a lot of his bloviating is too crude and boorish for this market. One racist remark he made got him banished from the message board for a year. His defense was “lighten up”, but I saw the remark; there could be no laughing it off. (It concerned watermelon). So perhaps we shouldn’t worry then. Shall we show you some marketing demographics, Mr. Strong?