Sunday, August 19, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Coney Island Rockabilly Festival
Sideshow, Burlesque, Surf Music and Roller Derby...you can't ask for much more than that!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Thor tangled in Web video flap
By Brian Childs
A little two part article this week from Metro
Part I
BROOKLYN. A video posted on Coney Island developer Thor Equities’ Web site and YouTube last week has ruffled some fins out in the seaside neighborhood.
The clip, which opens and closes with the Mermaid Parade logo, features costumed revelers professing their love of Coney Island and the parade. Then, in the last few seconds, a woman wearing a Viking helmet slips in: “The spirit of Thor matches that of Coney Island!”
The woman was Digna Rodriguez, a Thor Equities employee.
The video was designed as goodwill promotional material and showcased the High Steppers, a Brooklyn-based marching band Thor Equities sponsored in the parade. Absent from the video were the many protesters who marched in the parade to “Save Coney Island.” Many fear Thor’s proposals to transform Coney Island into a year-round attraction with upscale hotels will wash away the local character(s).
“Thor has just been sent an email,” Dick Zigun of Coney Island USA, the group that runs the Mermaid Parade, wrote on his Web site, “informing them that they have NO PERMISSION to use the name or logo MERMAID PARADE within their FUTURE OF CONEY ISLAND logo such as they have done at the start and finish of the YOU TUBE piece.”
Thor spokesman Lee Silberstein defended the video.
“As the largest investor in Coney Island, Thor Equities has supported a number of community-based organizations and activities, including the Mermaid Parade,” Silberstein said. “Thor was delighted to participate in the parade, and some of Thor’s employees shared their experience by posting the video on YouTube.”
Part II
BROOKLYN. Thor Equities has modified a Web site it hosts and a video it made about Coney Island and the Mermaid Parade.
Earlier this week, Metro reported the video, which used the logo from the parade, had drawn fire from parade organizer Dick Zigun of Coney Island USA, who sent an e-mail to the developer saying it had “NO PERMISSION to use the name or logo MERMAID PARADE within their FUTURE OF CONEY ISLAND logo such as they have done.” The video was posted on Thor’s site, www.thefutureofconeyisland.com and on YouTube.
The video featured costumed locals proclaiming their love for Coney Island. At the end, an unidentified woman, who happened to be Thor employee Digna Rodriguez, says, “The spirit of Thor matches that of Coney Island!”
The day after Metro’s story appeared, the YouTube version was pulled down. Yesterday, the video on Thor’s Web site was still posted, but the logo was modified to say “Thor Equities at Mermaid Parade 2007.”
“Thor has taken down the video and is re-editing the title and closing. This was a minor thing blown all out of proportion,” said Zigun. “My dream is that we can all get along and all work together on behalf of Coney Island.”
A Thor spokesman dec-lined to comment yesterday.
A little two part article this week from Metro
Part I
BROOKLYN. A video posted on Coney Island developer Thor Equities’ Web site and YouTube last week has ruffled some fins out in the seaside neighborhood.
The clip, which opens and closes with the Mermaid Parade logo, features costumed revelers professing their love of Coney Island and the parade. Then, in the last few seconds, a woman wearing a Viking helmet slips in: “The spirit of Thor matches that of Coney Island!”
The woman was Digna Rodriguez, a Thor Equities employee.
The video was designed as goodwill promotional material and showcased the High Steppers, a Brooklyn-based marching band Thor Equities sponsored in the parade. Absent from the video were the many protesters who marched in the parade to “Save Coney Island.” Many fear Thor’s proposals to transform Coney Island into a year-round attraction with upscale hotels will wash away the local character(s).
“Thor has just been sent an email,” Dick Zigun of Coney Island USA, the group that runs the Mermaid Parade, wrote on his Web site, “informing them that they have NO PERMISSION to use the name or logo MERMAID PARADE within their FUTURE OF CONEY ISLAND logo such as they have done at the start and finish of the YOU TUBE piece.”
Thor spokesman Lee Silberstein defended the video.
“As the largest investor in Coney Island, Thor Equities has supported a number of community-based organizations and activities, including the Mermaid Parade,” Silberstein said. “Thor was delighted to participate in the parade, and some of Thor’s employees shared their experience by posting the video on YouTube.”
Part II
BROOKLYN. Thor Equities has modified a Web site it hosts and a video it made about Coney Island and the Mermaid Parade.
Earlier this week, Metro reported the video, which used the logo from the parade, had drawn fire from parade organizer Dick Zigun of Coney Island USA, who sent an e-mail to the developer saying it had “NO PERMISSION to use the name or logo MERMAID PARADE within their FUTURE OF CONEY ISLAND logo such as they have done.” The video was posted on Thor’s site, www.thefutureofconeyisland.com and on YouTube.
The video featured costumed locals proclaiming their love for Coney Island. At the end, an unidentified woman, who happened to be Thor employee Digna Rodriguez, says, “The spirit of Thor matches that of Coney Island!”
The day after Metro’s story appeared, the YouTube version was pulled down. Yesterday, the video on Thor’s Web site was still posted, but the logo was modified to say “Thor Equities at Mermaid Parade 2007.”
“Thor has taken down the video and is re-editing the title and closing. This was a minor thing blown all out of proportion,” said Zigun. “My dream is that we can all get along and all work together on behalf of Coney Island.”
A Thor spokesman dec-lined to comment yesterday.
Monday, August 13, 2007
TURF GUY KEEPS THE CYCLONES CHURNINGhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
An interesting profile of the Cyclone's Turf Manager
By C.J. SULLIVAN
August 13, 2007-- GROWING up in
Highland, N.Y., Kevin Ponte loved playing baseball and football. At 16, he got a summer job as a groundskeeper at a local baseball field, and found he didn’t just love the game - he loved the work.
His parents wanted him to do something he was passionate about, which led Ponte to SUNY, where he got a degree in turf management. Upon graduating in 2004, he got the first job he applied for - head groundskeeper for the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones at KeySpan Park.
Ponte took an apartment in Sheepshead Bay and went to work keeping up the Coney Island ball field. He did so well he was named Groundskeeper of the Year in 2005 for the New York-Penn League.
On a steamy day last week, with the Cyclones off on a road trip, The Post caught up with Ponte, 25, as he was setting up the park for a punk-rock show.
He took a seat in the shade behind home plate and talked about his job.
To read more, click here.
By C.J. SULLIVAN
August 13, 2007-- GROWING up in
Highland, N.Y., Kevin Ponte loved playing baseball and football. At 16, he got a summer job as a groundskeeper at a local baseball field, and found he didn’t just love the game - he loved the work.
His parents wanted him to do something he was passionate about, which led Ponte to SUNY, where he got a degree in turf management. Upon graduating in 2004, he got the first job he applied for - head groundskeeper for the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones at KeySpan Park.
Ponte took an apartment in Sheepshead Bay and went to work keeping up the Coney Island ball field. He did so well he was named Groundskeeper of the Year in 2005 for the New York-Penn League.
On a steamy day last week, with the Cyclones off on a road trip, The Post caught up with Ponte, 25, as he was setting up the park for a punk-rock show.
He took a seat in the shade behind home plate and talked about his job.
To read more, click here.
A bit of Drama Over a YouTube Video
From the ConeyIsland.com message boards- Thor has just been sent a email informing them that they have NO PERMISSION to use the name or logo MERMAID PARADE within their FUTURE OF CONEY ISLAND logo such as they have done at the start and finish of the YOU TUBE piece. We have asked them to make a correction asap.
We do thank Thor for the High Steppers at the parade.
Dick Zigun
Charles Denson Speaks out in the Daily News
Coney's roller-coaster ride
Surf's a sought-after turf, so mayor must save this paradise
BY CHARLES DENSON
Monday, August 13th 2007, 4:00 AM
This year the public contemplated what life would be like without Coney Island. When developer Thor Equities bought up a dozen acres of beachfront property and revealed plans to build 40-story high-rises in the heart of the amusement zone, the reaction was fast and furious. Concerned citizens organized a Save Coney Island rally at City Hall, launched numerous petitions and blogs, and created anti-Thor themed floats and costumes for the Mermaid Parade. Thor's Coney Island land grab did not go unnoticed.
Coney Island has a history of land grabs dating to the 1600s, when Dutch and British colonists fought over grazing rights on the island's sand dunes. In the 1880s, Gravesend political boss John McKane privatized the beach and sold it to his cronies. Thirty years later, Brooklyn Borough President Edward Riegelmann reclaimed the shorefront and created a public beach and the Boardwalk.
To read more click here.
To read my article about Charles Denson from the Brooklyn Rail, click here.
Surf's a sought-after turf, so mayor must save this paradise
BY CHARLES DENSON
Monday, August 13th 2007, 4:00 AM
This year the public contemplated what life would be like without Coney Island. When developer Thor Equities bought up a dozen acres of beachfront property and revealed plans to build 40-story high-rises in the heart of the amusement zone, the reaction was fast and furious. Concerned citizens organized a Save Coney Island rally at City Hall, launched numerous petitions and blogs, and created anti-Thor themed floats and costumes for the Mermaid Parade. Thor's Coney Island land grab did not go unnoticed.
Coney Island has a history of land grabs dating to the 1600s, when Dutch and British colonists fought over grazing rights on the island's sand dunes. In the 1880s, Gravesend political boss John McKane privatized the beach and sold it to his cronies. Thirty years later, Brooklyn Borough President Edward Riegelmann reclaimed the shorefront and created a public beach and the Boardwalk.
To read more click here.
To read my article about Charles Denson from the Brooklyn Rail, click here.
The Bloomberg Article Everyone is Talking About
Coney Island, Like Hot Dog Champ at Goldman, Moves On (Update1)
By Laura Tillman and Alexis Leondis
Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Devito, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. vice president, has a special attachment to Coney Island. He's a three-time winner of the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot-dog-eating contest and loves the all-beef franks.
``The big draw has to be the original Nathan's,'' said Devito, 45, whose last victory was in 1994, when he downed 20 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. ``If I'm anywhere near that area, I always shoot over.''
Coney Island, an hour by subway from Wall Street, has attracted bankers and butchers, kids and adults, locals and tourists for 110 years. Many are returning this summer for what may be their last visit before development transforms Brooklyn's historic seaside amusement district.
To read more, click here.
By Laura Tillman and Alexis Leondis
Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Devito, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. vice president, has a special attachment to Coney Island. He's a three-time winner of the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot-dog-eating contest and loves the all-beef franks.
``The big draw has to be the original Nathan's,'' said Devito, 45, whose last victory was in 1994, when he downed 20 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. ``If I'm anywhere near that area, I always shoot over.''
Coney Island, an hour by subway from Wall Street, has attracted bankers and butchers, kids and adults, locals and tourists for 110 years. Many are returning this summer for what may be their last visit before development transforms Brooklyn's historic seaside amusement district.
To read more, click here.
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