Photo Friday: Flatiron + Hot Links

Flatiron Building, December 29, 2010 3:49pm
Photo by the Preservator

Hot Links + Strays:
Polis recently posted a piece about how relevant Jane Jacobs' thinking about the use of old buildings, 50 years later. Even lovers of Jacobs' writing, including yours truly, can get tired of the endless rehashing of her influential writing. Still, this piece reminds us that old buildings, in big expensive cities like New York, provide space for entrepreneurship. Do read.

Philebrity shared this rad portal into the future/past... er the future of the past. Something. Hi-Tech Psychedelic Past/Present Philly Street View promised. If you've ever wondered about how the Preservator wishes to experience the world. This is so close.

ArchPaper reports about a new level of destructoporn: Buffalo artist who's creating art out of pieces of abandoned buildings in an installation called Undone/Redone City.

Harlem Bespoke unearths details about this beautiful horse fountain at 155th and St. NicholasPlace in Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill. NYC Parks has more info about the Hooper Fountain's restoration. Among the many streetscape treasures that delight the Preservator are horse fountains, most of which were built at a time when the ASPCA and its local chapters were on the rise. They make us think of kindness.

Amusing the Zillion tipped about an exhibit at Schroeder Romero & Shredder, Nickel Empire: Coney Island Photographs 1889-1948. It's up from January 27th-February 26 and looks great.

While we're on the subject, don't think we didn't notice, but in the last month the Coney Island debacle has continued with the demolition of the Bank of Coney Island and the landmarking of both Childs Restaurant and the Coney Island (Shore) Theater on Surf Avenue.

Crumbling Coney

Coney Island's classic boardwalk. Photo by Preservator

In the ever-saddening annals of Coney Island, two bummers surfaced this week:

The New York Times reports that 9 boardwalk establishments are losing their leases. And one of The Preservator's favorite sites, Lost City, waxes nostalgic on Ruby's Closing. News like this confirms the fears that the homogenizaiton of Coney Island knows no end.

In other bad news, the Department of Parks and Recreation has proposed replacing part of the boardwalk with concrete. This ticked off Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who trashed the idea in a letter to Parks Commish Adrian Benape. The NY Daily News's coverage (here) said that Parks was trying to comply with the city's policy of reducing use of tropical hardwoods. Surely, Marty says, there's another sustainable option that keeps the boardwalk real. There's a part of me that thinks even if everything else changes at Coney Island, at least there's the boardwalk and the beach. The BOARDwalk (not concrete sidewalk) is part of what makes the place what it is, and speaks to its history. To ditch it is remarkably disrespectful and uncreative.

Update Bonanza: Coney Island is Historic and Being Demolished / Community Garden Advocates Break Out the Big Guns

Busy times over here at Preservator HQ with updates regarding some topics recently covered on these pages. And you thought summer was a slow news season!


Coney Island:
Last week Coney Island's historic resources received a nod for their importance, as well as demolition permits.

Coney Island's Boardwalk is eligible for listing in the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Photo by Preservator.

On the upside, the staff from the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation trekked out to Coney Island and found that its historic resources - including the boardwalk (!) - are eligible for listing in the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Even though this determination provides no protections that some form of designation would, it's validation of the significance these resources.

Save Coney Island posted the August 12th Determination of Eligibility on their website. In it, the state wrote: "While much of historic Coney Island has been lost through the years due to neglect, fire, or urban renewal beginning in the Moses era, the core of surviving buildings, structures, objects, and landscape features that have remained are valuable cultural assets worthy of recognition and consideration in preservation planning." It also called the amusement district "nationally significant...as the birthplace of the modern American amusement industry."

Almost immediately Thor Equities pulled two demolition permits.

Shore Hotel, Coney Island, Photo by Preservator.

Wrecking has begun at the Shore Hotel and the Bank of Coney Island. Also on the chopping block are the Grashorn Building and Henderson's Music Hall, where Thor is so eager they're even working without a demolition permit.

Henderon's Music Hall, Coney Island, Photo by Preservator.

Careful observers will note that the state's proposed historic district boundaries are much larger than those put forward by advocates. The state, wisely, included the boardwalk. Huzzah!


View Coney Island - DoE boundaries in a larger map

 Note: The blue line is the state boundary for eligible resources, and the pink is the initially the proposed boundary. 

Previously on Preservator: Keep Coney Island Real



Community Gardens:Last week's public hearing about the contentious new rules for New York City's community gardens was apparently well attended and got lots of press. A good list of links is on the New York City Community Garden Coalition's (NYCCGC) website.

City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn speaking with people waiting to testify at the August 10th public hearing on new rules for community gardens. Photo by Matthew McDermott, Flickr / Creative Commons License.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and parks committee chairwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito made the case for the city's community gardens, in a New York Times op-ed yesterday, titled "Constant Gardens for New York." They call for community gardens to become more stable and long-lasting features of New York's urban fabric. They advocate for more permanent and protective rules, a more straightforward process for license renewal and site turnover, and conditions for city eviction. The Council Members are on the mark.

NYCCGC also links to the testimony from former Assistant Attorney General, Christopher Amato, who was the lead lawyer for New York State in 2002 during the case which resulted in the current garden agreement that provides more protections than the current proposed rules. at the August 10th hearing on the new proposed rules. If you're into it, read the 7 page letter. It's a barnburner.

Amato contends that the new rules weaken the protections for community gardens, and violate the spirit of the 2002 agreement. He, more interestingly, makes the case that these gardens are parks by common use (think common law), even if they're not treated the same as other parks run by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. Treehugger breaks it down here. While Amato offered his testimony as a private citizen, he happens to be the Assistant Commissioner in the Department of Environmental Conservation Office of Natural Resources.

Previously on Preservator: Machines in the Garden

Keep Coney Island Real

The Parachute Jump and the boardwalk.

After a recent field trip to Coney Island, I got thinking more seriously about its future. A major rezoning last year has paved the way for transformative development in this otherwise forgotten corner of Brooklyn.  And with all of this new attention, there's a lot of talk about how to keep the spirit and texture of Coney Island alive.

Groups like Coney Island USA and Save Coney Island are advocating for the creation of a small Coney Island Historic District.

Proposed Historic District and Current Landmarks map via Save Coney Island.

The only existing NYC landmarks in Coney Island are: The Parachute Jump, The Cyclone, The Wonder Wheel, and Childs Restaurant on the Boardwalk. And, I must say, I love each of them. Childs is a wonderful, romantic, decaying relic of terracotta in oceanic themes. The Cyclone is still a thrill for kids of all ages, including me.  And, like the Cyclone, the Parachute Jump and the Wonder Wheel are important living memories of summers past for many New Yorkers.

 Childs Restaurant on the Boardwalk, above, and thrills on the Cyclone, below.

Attempts to landmark a few, heavily altered buildings appear to be dead in the water.  These buildings are significant not for architectural integrity but their cultural history.  I have no issues with designating cultural landmarks, and doing so for Shore Theater and Nathan’s Famous (see below) would be a nice olive branch given the scale of development that the city envisions.

The Shore Theater, above, and Nathan's Famous, below.

Landmarking these buildings won't “save” Coney Island. Nor will a small district. In this case, an historic district can only hint at what was once common: a richly varied place full of visual chaos, wild amusements, fanciful entertainment, and cheap thrills.  I say, instead, focus on making Coney Island a rich, diverse, wildly entertaining place for New Yorkers of every stripe.

Surf Avenue Coney Island, c. 1910 Library of Congress , Flickr Commons Project. 

In 2009 the rezoning of Coney Island advanced a new city vision of developer-driven change for Coney Island: one in which hotel and residential towers commingle with neighborhood scale retail, and the amusement areas would be condensed to the area between the ballpark and aquarium. I can understand the concentration of games and rides into one location, and I see the value in making it a more year-round destination. Encouragement new development for Coney Island is also a great goal, though I fear the possibility of homogenization, mediocrity, and privatization of the amusements and amenities. Coney Island is a place for everyone and it should stay that way. (Even if the Cyclone costs $8 for your first ride, the beach is but a subway fare away.)

Inside Luna Park, Coney Island, Library of Congress Print and Photograph collection.

Inventive eye-catching attractions and fringe amusements have always characterized Coney Island as New York’s great playground, making it a seaside destination of choice.  Opportunistic developers who used their imaginations made that happen. I would hope that any new development – especially those benefitting from the city’s rezoning or through financial incentives – would keep that in mind.

One feature of Coney Island I feel very strongly about keeping firmly in its place is the boardwalk.  This should be designated as a Scenic Landmark, the same way Eastern and Ocean parkways are.  What would Coney Island (or Brighton Beach) be without its boardwalk? The city should be obligated to maintain it in perpetuity to ensure uninterrupted public access.  Coney Island has had a boardwalk since the 1920s, and it should stay that way.

Coney Island may be a shadow of its former self, but it has good bones.  There’s incredible potential for a renewed Coney Island to demonstrate the values that make New York great: world-class public amenities, imaginative development, and something for everyone.  I don’t see the zoning process or landmarking bringing that about on its own. The large land-holders, like New York City and Thor Equities, need to consider very carefully and think creatively about how to invigorate Coney Island as a richly textured destination. This could be achieved with fine-grained smaller site development, and making space for a large variety of small vendors, kiosks, and games, particularly close to the boardwalk.  It should feel like a bizarre bazaar, not a monolithic or sterile place.

 The Bowery, Coney Island c. 1912, Library of Congress, Print and Photograph Collection.

Coney Island could thrive anew with a density of creative and interesting, amusements and amenities that would attract New Yorkers of every stripe.  There are plenty of vacant lots to build on: start there. Restore Childs on the Boardwalk to anchor an otherwise desolate stretch of boardwalk. Encourage vendors to extend the small shops along the boardwalk to keep it lively and affordable.

Developers, property owners, and the city alike should strive to make Coney Island an adventure, but keep it real.

For More Information check out:
The NYC Department of City Planning's Coney Island rezoning info here.
Coney Island USA's website.
Library of Congress's Sanborn Time Series on Coney Island here.
Library of Congress's Flickr Commons Project Coney Island collection here.


Color photos by Preservator, all rights reserved.

Brooklyn Beach Amusements of the Past

Next up in the Preservator's occasional Palen Postcard series comes a few from the Brooklyn beach amusements of yesteryear. You'll notice that the rides and the atmosphere seem really elaborate, especially by comparison to today's Luna Park, which looks a bit fly-by-night.  

This set is inspired by my trip to Coney Island this past Sunday. I rode the Cyclone and nearly lost my glasses. Twice. It was great. We checked out the local landmarks, and walked the boardwalk. More on Coney Island later, for now the postcards please.



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

For more Palen Postcard check these: Prospect Park in Postcards