Tricia Vita

The first page and a half of an article I wrote for Amusement Warehouse about the the park world's oldest operating amusement rides shows a photo of Vienna's Giant Wheel, the Riesenrad, and an antique postcard of it in the 19th century, when it was built. Also pictured are riders on a red swinging car of Coney Island's Deno's Wonder Wheel.

A Spin Through History! My article about the park world's oldest operating rides is in the November IAAPA Expo edition of Amusement Warehouse. Among the century-old rides in my story are Vienna's Riesenrad, Coney Island's Deno's Wonder Wheel & Blackpool's Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machine 🎡✈️

Old school game!

News clipping from August 15, 1975 has the headline State's Michael Boodley New Roller-Coaster King. Fifty years ago this month, on August 14, 1975, seventeen-year-old Mike Boodley set a Guinness world record for consecutive roller coaster rides by riding the Coney Island Cyclone 1,001 times over 45 hours. The black & white photo shows him sitting in the first car, which says Cyclone, after the 1001st ride, and people around him congratulating him.

Happy #NationalRollerCoasterDay! I recorded an oral history for @coneyislandhistory.bsky.social with roller coaster designer Mike Boodley. Fifty years ago, he broke a world record riding the Coney Island Cyclone 1,001X in 45 hrs 🎢 www.coneyislandhistory.org/oral-history... @ridewithace.bsky.social

Players toss coins onto a table with an elaborate display of glassware. If your coin lands on a piece, you win it! You can trade up for larger items. It's very popular but you don't see it much anymore due to the difficulty of sourcing the glassware and transporting it. Some fairs still have it.

Thank you! Working on what feels like the umpteenth draft 🤣

Congrats! I drop in here every few (or is it several?) days, mostly for literary news and reflections.

Top of first post of Charles Denson's Substack says "Coney Casino Derangement: How a casino developer is targeting a vulnerable community, Charles Denson, July 29, 2025" and show a photo of children wearing "The Coney" casino t-shirts. They have basketballs under the their arms. Their faces are cropped off in this photo but in the original photo their faces are shown.

Charles Denson, director of the Coney Island History Project, has a NEW Substack about Coney Island!
➡️ Read his first post & subscribe for free: coneyologist.substack.com
Denson is the author of the prizewinning Coney Island: Lost and Found and three other books about Coney Island.

Graphic shows photo layout of my article HIt the Hammer, Ring the Bell! The History of the High Striker in Amusement Warehouse Magazine. The large photo on the left is a still from the 1917 silent film comedy Coney Island showing Buster Keaton holding a hammer in front of a high striker and hitting Fatty Arbuckle on the chin so that his hat jumps in the air. Smaller photos from the early 20th century on the right show the bottom part of the high striker's wooden tower with numbers 300, 500, and 600 painted on it and a player hitting the gong.

Hit the Hammer, Ring the Bell! My article about the history of the high striker is published in the July issue of Amusement Warehouse, the print magazine companion to carnivalwarehouse.com. The strongman game inspired the phrase "close, but no cigar!" because a cigar was your prize if you won.

NEW in our oral history archive: Randy Profeta, great grandson of Coney Island sign painter Harry Wildman (1875-1930), who created the logo for Nathan's when it opened in 1916. Recorded for the Coney Island History Project by @triciavita.bsky.social. www.coneyislandhistory.org/oral-history...

I also love cat naps, i.e. recharging by taking a nap with my cat!

Logo of Coney Island History Project and vintage postcard showing Resinweber's Casino, which was actually a restaurant. Text says: The Coney Island casino developers need a history lesson. Reisenwebers Restaurant was not a gambling casino! The Coney Island casino developers are making the false claim that gambling casinos were once a traditional business in Coney Island. Their claim is a major part of the PowerPoint presentation they show at public hearings and to elected officials. The presentation shows an old postcard of a building with a roof sign that says “Reisenweber’s Casino.” That’s the extent of their proof. The problem is that their claim is absolutely FALSE. There were never gambling casinos in Coney Island. In the past it was common for dance halls, cabarets, bungalow colonies, restaurants, and bathhouses to call themselves “casinos.” The word “casino” had absolutely nothing to do with gambling. Read more at coneyislandhistory.org/blog

This is a text block that says: This is a truth can easily be fact-checked. There are no photographs, tax records, licenses, newspaper stories, advertisements, or recorded memories of a gambling casino ever operating in Coney Island. “The Coney” casino developers sold their claim based on one postcard image, and the New York City Planning Commission bought the lie. This type of fraud creates serious problems when used to influence public policy. This is exactly what happened when the @nycplanning Commission approved the zoning for the casino on May 7, 2025. Here is a direct quote from page 14 of the Planning Commission’s approval of the rezoning of Coney Island for the casino: “Casinos were once a popular and established use in Coney Island and a gaming facility returning to Coney will not only reinforce the area as an amusement district but also establish a new, year-round destination for residents and tourists, aligned with the goals of the Special Coney Island District.”

The Coney casino developers are falsely claiming that gambling casinos were once a traditional business in Coney Island & @nycplanning.bsky.social bought the lie. History lesson: www.coneyislandhistory.org/blog/coney-c...
@bkbpreynoso.bsky.social @justinbrannan.bsky.social @alexsommer.bsky.social

Watching Coney Island's 4th of July fireworks on West 15th St thru the loop of Luna Park's Thunderbolt roller coaster 🎢

Zipper: Coney Island's Last Wild Ride - Apple TV A real-estate mogul grabs up the rented lot of a small-time operator of a carnival ride.

Yesterday, the NYC Council voted to rezone Coney Island - AGAIN!!!!!!

Coney Island attendance in 2006 (before @nycplanning.bsky.social rezoned in 2009):
12.8M
... and in 2022:
5M

A casino won't save what they've ruined.

tv.apple.com/us/movie/zip...

It reminds me of a Japanese
moon window. 'Satori no mado.' Window of enlightenment!

Rolling the dice: City Council approves Coney Island casino rezoning as state begins to consider gaming licenses • Brooklyn Paper The New York City Council on Monday approved a rezoning that would allow the proposed Coney Island casino to build a massive facility in the People’s

Unfortunately @council.nyc.gov passed Coney Island casino proposal to de-map public streets & acquire air rights for hotel 2x the height allowed by zoning. Vote was 36 - yes, including the vote of local CM @justinbrannan.bsky.social, 11 - no, and 4 abstentions. www.brooklynpaper.com/city-council...

Being on the umpteenth draft of my memoir, this essay speaks to me.

Ooh, I love the painting on the showfront ❤️

Love this! I tend to get compliments on my hats, but from grownups.

You probably walked by Gilbert Chadwick's attractions. The article says he and his family have been playing that fair for more than 75 years!

Oh, wow, you have actually been to that fair! The trip at the top of my bucket list is a tour of UK funfairs and parks including Blackpool. I haven't been able to because summer is too busy for me working in Coney Island.

Hoppings' oldest showman shares secret of longevity aged 92 Gilbert Chadwick, 92, runs the Fun House with his wife Eileen, 87, and the couple still have no plans to retire

Gilbert Chadwick, 92, the oldest showman at the Hoppings, one of Europe's largest travelling funfairs, on being on the road: "I say don't think about it, just do it, keep going. Sit down for six months and you'll seize up, and that's it." www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e...

Sarah, Madame Hengler, portrait depicting her as a young woman made up from the fireworks of the business she ran for 40 years - and eventally died from when her home and fireworks factory caught fire and she died in the blaze.

Sarah Hengler (1765–1845) Fire Queen of Vauxhall Gardens, The King's Pyrotechnic. Businesswoman, firework artist. Matriarch of family of acrobats & performers who founded Hengler's Circus. Invented rocket element for early shore to ship lifesaving equipment en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_H... #INWED25

For Casino Operators, It’s Deadline Day

DYK applications to open a NYC area casino are due today? That's why @council.nyc.gov is in a mad rush to pass rezoning for Coney casino 😡 Please phone or email Coney Island Councilman Justin Brannan (718-748-5200, AskJB@council.nyc.gov) and your council member.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/n...

The graphic says: UPDATE: On June 26, the New York City Council's Land Use and Zoning & Franchises Subcommittees voted unanimously to allow the Coney casino developer to de-map public streets and acquire air rights to build sky bridges and a hotel twice the height allowed by existing zoning. The full City Council will vote on Monday, June 30. If you don't want Coney Island to be replaced by a casino, we urge you to phone or email Coney Island Councilman Justin Brannan (718-748-5200, AskJB@council.nyc.gov) and your council member. Find your district: https://council.nyc.gov/districts/. Images include the developer's rendering of of the multi-block casino & hotel project and a warning symbol.

The NYC Council will vote on a casino developer's demapping proposal on Monday, June 30 ⚠️ If you don't want Coney Island to be replaced by a casino, we urge you to phone or email Coney Councilman @justinbrannan.bsky.social and your council member. Find your district: council.nyc.gov/districts/

Audio Ancestors: Erik Barnouw - Transom Audio Ancestors: Erik Barnouw - Transom

Today in @transom.bsky.social — my tribute to media historian, radio writer, documentarian, teacher and all around king, Erik Barnouw. transom.org/2025/audio-a...

Book bans are getting weirder, targeting cats, dogs and civic-minded grandmas Seeking to ban books like “Bathe the Cat” has less to do with morality than it does with a yearning for control.

Book bans are getting weirder, targeting cats, dogs and civic-minded grandmas, writes @andizeisler.bsky.social www.salon.com/2025/06/26/b...

Do NOT rank Brannan! He is bought out by the people who want to turn Coney Island into a Casino! He has accepted donations from the PAC that supports it, and refuses to listen to constituents who don’t want it!

No to the casino, or no votes for him!

I ranked Mark Levine #1 for Comptroller. He had the balls to unconditionally reject zoning changes for the Hudson Yards casino and 80-story hotel, citing concerns about insufficient housing & impact on the High Line. The developer pulled the proposal.

Brannan is a sellout. He told me on Coney's opening day he was a "no" on casino de-mapping. It would destroy small businesses & cause traffic congestion. Now he wants to "let the process play out" because of $100K PAC funded by developer & endorsement of hotel & gaming union. Don't rank him!

I'd like to see this too! If you locate it, please post on this thread.