Luna Park: Coney Island

Peter: 12th Apr 2002 - 13:26 GMT

Supposedly, Luna Park was the most well-lit place on the east coast; they say you could see it at night, even several miles out at sea. Unfortunately, faulty wiring in all the lighting (turn of the century quality, of course) caused almost the entire place to burn down.

trouble: 12th Apr 2002 - 17:26 GMT

damn, that looks incredible! it looks like ol' walt took a few cues from this place.

moebius: 13th Apr 2002 - 19:20 GMT

...reminds me of the history of a San Francisco entertainment palace that also went down in flames: the Sutro Baths. (hope these comments handle HTML...)

AL. A-SOUTH BKLYN- NOW SOUTH ORLANDO: 11th Jun 2005 - 00:55 GMT

AS AN 8 YEAR OLD IN 1944 I USED TO CLIMB THE FENCE WITH A FRIEND AND
LOOK FOR COINS IN THE WATERS OF THE RED MILL,CLOSED IN THE WINTER. LATER I TURNED OUT TO BE THE BRIGHTON BEACH,BEACHCOMBER FOR OVER 30
YEARS WITH MY 4 CHILDREN. NOW IT'S FLORIDA,BY THE WAY THE RED MILL AT
LUNA WAS A DARK TUNNEL OF LOVE AND COINS WERE FLIPPED IN THE WATER AS
FOR GOOD LUCK.

Jeffrey: 19th Jun 2005 - 12:21 GMT

Kinda related to this---I live in the coop development that is on the Luna Park site. No evidence of the amusement park remains. Neither does any evidence of the adjacent community now occupied by Trump/Warbasse/Brightwater exist. Does anyone have memory of that neighborhood? What was there before the re-mapping and re-allignment of Neptune Avenue? Thanks for your response.

Peter: 20th Jun 2005 - 14:46 GMT

id love to know about that too, jeffrey! luna park and coney island are some of my favorite pieces of nyc lore... i love visiting coney.

jack: 23rd Aug 2005 - 21:54 GMT

i believe there were apartment buildings and cottages for summer renters at brighton beach. the hand ball courts are famous for some of the best games in the country. if you were travelling down ocean parkway to the shore you would bear to the right to go to coney. on the left were the handball courts and on the right was luna park. i think there are apartments there now. if you continue along on surf avenue on the left is the acquarium now and then the cyclone. as you continue on the right was feldman's dance hall where grable, romero, jimmy duratne and eddie cantor got their start. next to that was a carousel and then on the left was fascination and then on the corner of surf and stillwell was nathan's and opposite was the lowie oriental movie theatre. also the train station that all trains came into at the end of the line at coney island. i hope that was helpful al. jeffrey, luna park bordered surf avenue and neptune avenue. your apartment building and the police station were not there yet. there was an inlet for boaters to come ashore to go to the park. its now a stinky, rotting bay. beautiful homes were in that area streching all the way to lincoln high school. i remember the area from the forties and fifties. i was born in '42' but lived not to far away.

Matt: 18th Jan 2006 - 17:14 GMT

I lived in Luna Park (apartments) for over 20 years in the 70's, 80's and 90's. I miss it dearly. Growing up, I knew very little about the history located there so I've been doing research on the web. One interesting tidbit is the story behind an old fire alarm box, located somewhere in Trump Village. Apparently, it is the only thing that remains untouched from what was there before that area changed. It stands, alone, on a strip of grass between sidewalks.

Debbie Feb. 17, 2006: 17th Feb 2006 - 19:50 GMT

I enjoy looking at wed sites about Coney Island. I've found interesting photos on a site called "Unforgotten New York". Check it out.

anon (c-24-118-179-192.hsd1.mn.comcast.net): 24th Apr 2006 - 20:42 GMT

wow! it's looks fun!

athar elhassan: 16th Aug 2006 - 08:05 GMT

i enjoyed coney island alot because of all the rides were so exciting i liked the most was the pirate ship to all future commers your going to like it

aj schure: 21st Sep 2006 - 13:48 GMT

i used to go to coney is. as a kid us guys hung out at brighton 4 i hope to go back to the ole hood in oct. iwant t take a load of pics igrew up around st.johns and utica ave, ilived on president st. from 44 -64 my grandparents lived there also from the 30!s the brooklyn dodgers and ebberts field as a little kid of 8-9 iwould walk there anytime icould turn in enough return bottles to muster up 50cents to get in!!!!you can take the person out of brookyln but never take brooklyn out of them!!!!!!!!

Robert G: 26th Oct 2006 - 18:36 GMT

I moved to Trump Village when I was 5 years old, that was the year it opened, we lived on the 23rd floor facing the ocean. When I was a kid I use to watch the fire works every Friday from Coney Island on my Trace. I had the Greatest child hood growing up with hundreds of kids.I really miss those days. We hung out in 3rd street. I now live in Florida and wish I could move back home.

Ithaca: 28th Oct 2006 - 18:26 GMT

Was there a dance pavillion at Luna Park...I know there was one at Dreamland, but it burned down around 1911.

jack: 14th Mar 2007 - 17:42 GMT

there was a dance pavillion and before that there was one on the boardwalk, and how many people do you know who say, 'broadwalk' it should be, 'boardwalk' there are boards on the walk but when the service men came to coney in the 30's and 40's they saw girls and called it the broadwalk. i hung out on bay 10 in the late 50's listening to dion and the belmonts, elvis, went to the rock and roll show at ravenhall pool, good times, no worries, no responsibility, just go home and mom would have a great meal waiting for me, sigh.

Rose June 8th: 8th Jun 2007 - 14:35 GMT

Love the pictures, brought back many happy memories.

caron June 22 2007: 22nd Jun 2007 - 23:30 GMT

I too grew up in Luna Park. We moved in when it opened in the early 60's and my parents lived there until 2000. I didn't realize when I was growing up how wonderful Coney Island and Luna Park was until I moved away, had children and came back to visit.--- It was a great place to live and grow up

jeremy : 12th Sep 2007 - 19:30 GMT

I wish I had a time machine. Id go back to the early 1900's when Luna, Steeplechase, and Dreamland were up and running. It would seem that every other ride you see in amusement parks now is some sort of spin off of these old rides. Like tidal wave at Magic Mountain is the shoot the chutes ride. And Walt disney probably did his research and pirated several of the old rides that used to be then revised them. Not to mention you couldnt beat the prices of that time. I was born in the worng time period!

Scott .W: 18th Oct 2007 - 19:26 GMT

I to grew up not far from Luna Park in the Warbasse houses from the early 60's until we moved in 1982. Although not to far, i probably spent more time there after I moved. We would play football aginst the guys from Luna Park whether it was the "Red Army" or Blue Machine" lATER ON THEY HAD A GREEN TEAM.Always the toughest to play, but some of the more intresting charachters in the neighborhood. Finding sights like these are great for reminising, I love it. Hope to see more in the future.

Peter: 18th Oct 2007 - 20:29 GMT

thats weird, because luna park was destroyed by fire in 1944... and the warbasse houses werent built until 1963...

Scott .W: 6th Nov 2007 - 16:49 GMT

When I said Luna Park, I meant the apartment houses, ther'e a collection of five 23 story buildings on both west 8th and west 12th street. nice open areas in between with grass. Although the amusment park burnt down the projects that took their place are still there.

Chris: 26th Nov 2007 - 17:26 GMT

Hey i might as well add since i'm reading through the posts, I myself grew up in coney island. I am now 25 and love to check out old photos at times , i've seen the area change. The new redevelopment thought isnt as near to being done as some might thing. I believe it might be another 3-6 yrs before anything happens or longer who really knows....hopefully the batting cages wont be empty and nothing on it. Atleast this year the circus came to town and some other things brought to you by thor so lets hope he can continue with that atleast..Since it is his property now. There still fighting over the zoning which is on going...

Chris from Luna Park

joey: 17th Jan 2008 - 04:49 GMT

luna park was a popular amusement park name. there was a luna park in cleveland, ohio as well.
go see -> images.ulib.csuohio.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/postcards&CISOPTR=3588&REC=11

elena: 12th Feb 2008 - 00:53 GMT

I grew up in the Luna Park Buildings. I spent my childhood and early teen years before moving, but I agree with Robert, those were the best times in my life! It was early 90's-early 00's. I also remember the fireworks out my window and on the terrace. We were right on the water by the police station. Good times...

????: 6th May 2008 - 01:12 GMT

luna park is a gud park were u can hang out with friends and family!!!

Arnold Magraner: 2nd Jun 2008 - 00:53 GMT

In the mid to late 50's even into the early sixties, I used to go to Brighton Beach Bay3, during the summer with many of my friends from the Borough of Manhattan.
We had formed a singing grp. Then it was called Rock&Roll, now it's called Do-Wop.
We used to hang out with the local Jewish girls from the Area.
Had a lot of good times on Brighton Beach.
I know live in Los Angeles and am in the Hollywood casting field.

db: 2nd Jun 2008 - 03:24 GMT

I wonder if it was built by the same company, but its amazing that while the one at Coney Island is gone the one in Sydney Australia is still in operation, and the gate is almost exacly if not exactly the same.

T J O'BRIEN, ANNANDALE, VA: 20th Jun 2008 - 02:41 GMT

The article below it will mention the Luna Park. During the WW II I worked part-time for the New York Daily News as a copy boy. One afternoon I came in early at about 3:00PM before the evening shift at the Editorial Department. While waiting on the bench for a call of “Copy Boy”, a photographer came running out of the Photo Department and told me to follow him. We raced to Coney Island for a fire in Luna Park.
Upon arriving at the entrance the mounted NYC Policeman would not let us in to the park. Kelleher, the photographer told me to jump into the rear seat and grab the two helmets marked Civil Defense in bright red colors. He turned the car around into 180 degree turn and yelled out of the car window that we part of the Civil Defense Corps. The policeman who mounted on his horse pulled up on the reins and horses front hoofs raised in the air as we passed beneath the hoofs into the park.
Kelleher parked the car and tossed me the case that carried the 4X5 negative plates. In the early days of newspapers, photographers carried a camera called the 4X5 Speed Graflex. The camera could only shoot two pictures at a time by reversing the 4X5 glass plate. I was to carry the plates in a case that was about 2feet long and deep enough to carry the plates. It was heavy.
While taking ground shots he turned around and found the roller coaster standing nearby. We worked our way into the assembly and stared to go up the maintenance stairways. Kelleher (by the way my mother’s maiden name) wanted to get an overall shot of Luna Park now in flames throughout all the buildings. The park was built in the early 1900’s and now about 40 years old, with rotting wooden members. I was carrying the camera plate case and he his Graflex. When we arrived at the peak or first drop of the roller coaster it was swaying back and forth because the down side rails and wooden assembly was burned away. He took his shots and we proceeded down the broken and missing steps. I was terrified looking over the roller coaster wooden structure, or what left of it.
Normally I would go back to the Daily News office by subway. The plates were given to the Daily News motorcycle driver for delivery to the 42nd Street office. Kelleher was to remain at the Police Headquarters for any further stories. He passed a remark that I did OK and said I was to remain with him and meet the people at the Brooklyn Police precinct branch at Coney Island. It was there I met my namesake John O’Brien, police reporter and later the paper’s columnist.

Fran: 19th Sep 2008 - 04:59 GMT

I lived in Luna Park in one of the buildings on west 12th Street til the early 70's and remember the Bonomo Turkish Taffy factory on west 8th Street. Anyone know when that was built?

EA: 14th Dec 2008 - 21:09 GMT

I also grew up in the Luna Park houses (west 8th) from the early 60's, when the bldgs opened, to early 70's. I remember the Bonomo Turkish Taffy Bldg, and I remember hanging out on the beach and watching the fireworks every Tuesday nite in the summer. There was a Bat-A-Way on Surf Ave next to a walk-in spook 'ride' and Carousel. Before Trump Village & Brightwater Towers were built, a group of us would take a shortcut to PS 100 by walking underneath the 'el', in an alleyway between the police station and the back of the Bataway. There, scattered between mud and broken glass, were tattered baseballs - which had been hit over the Bat-a-Way fence at some point in time. I believe there was an older police station back then and we used to get a chill when we passed the jail window - also visible from under the 'el'. Directly across from PS 100 were a handful of tiny, shack-like houses, which were eventually demolished to make room for Trump Village. In summer, we'd come home from school and meet up again at the beach. Then we'd take our roller skates (no blades then) and skate all around the Luna Park. It was a fun place.