Earlier this year four kiddie rides were added next to the Carousel in Flushing Meadows Park, creati...

1. The Long Gone Amusement Parks of New York City
Earlier this year four kiddie rides were added next to the Carousel in Flushing Meadows Park,
creating the new amusement park called Fantasy Forest. The press touted this as the first
amusement park in Queens in nearly 30 years. That was not exactly true. There was another
Playland in Queens that would remain open until the late 90s. Has it really been that long since
Rockaway Playland closed? Queens was once the home of many many amusement parks. But then
they all disappeared. Two generations grew up without them, having to settle for video games. And
not just in Queens. The Bronx has not seen amusements in ages. Staten Island lost it's last
amusement park in 2004, now a decade ago. The urban amusement park has become an endangered
species. But not because Americans lost their taste for amusements. In fact, even as the urban
amusement park went into decline, great big multimillion dollar theme parks built by the likes of
Disney and Six Flags turned record profits. People are willing to travel cross state, even cross
country, and pay a $30 or higher admittance fee, just to be in an overcrowded theme park with hour
long lines on most of the attractions. The urban amusement parks offered something, maybe less
thrilling in concept, but far less expensive, far less crowded, just as fun and just a few minutes drive
away.
I write this hub for those two generations of New Yorkers who thought that the only local
amusement parks were at Coney Island, and for those of you who are old enough to mourn the fun
places of the past. These were the amusement parks of New York City. This is how many there were,
and how large they were. And ultimately what happened to them.
See all 28 photos
Coney Island in better days.
Lets begin with Coney Island. Sure, there is still a Coney Island left to go to. But it is no secret that it
has shrunk a bit in recent years, and for a while there was nearly lost for good so that condominiums
could be built. I have written extensively about the events of the past decade which you can read
here:
......So there is no need to rehash the story in this hub. Needless to say, in the past decade Coney
Island lost Coney Island Batting Range Go-Kart City, Astroland, and McCullough's Kiddie Park, as
well as the individually owned attractions The Spider, The Zipper, Shoot-The-Freak, Cha-Cha's and
Fabers Fascination.

2. See all 28 photos
The Elaphant Hotel was one of the first attractions built at Coney Island, and helped set the tone for
the attractions that followed. In later years a roller coaster was built around it.
But while the Coney Island of recent memory is only a couple of city blocks, it was a lot larger
decades ago. At one time the core amusement district was at least 22 blocks along the boardwalk,
and went as far as three city blocks inland. Beyond the core district were random independent
amusement making a go at a less populated part of the beach. Even what is now the exclusive gated
neighborhood of Sea Gate once had it's own amusements before there were residents. Brighton
Beach had it's own amusement park, Brighton Pike, with a huge out and back wooden coaster called
"A Chase Through The Clouds". But a large scale park all the way out in Brighton could not compete
with Coney Island's three big theme parks. When fire damaged the Pike in 1919, those who decided
to rebuild did so a mile down the beach in the core amusement district.
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The gate to Dreamland
The were three theme parks in the core amusement district; Steeplechase Park, Luna Park and
Dreamland. Dreamland bit the dust in 1911 after only 7 seasons when a massive fire burned it to
ash. While the biggest and most impressive of the three parks, it was run by a bunch of prudes who

3. only wanted clean wholesome attractions. Once you paid to get in you were bored out of your skull.
By the time it burned down barely anyone was visiting it. So the owners never bothered to rebuild.
The land was sold to the city, who in turn built a huge municipal bath house, and something called a
parking lot for those new fangled cars.
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The entrance to Luna Park. Above the gate read "The Heart of Coney Island" because the park was
situated in the very center of the amusement district.
Luna Park opened in 1903 and remained open until 1944 when the 40 year lease on their property
ran out. A fire had gutted part of the park a year earlier, and the owners of Luna had hoped to
collect on their fire insurance. But the property owners claimed the insurance windfall should go to
them instead. This lead to a battle in court, and Luna not getting another 40 year lease out of spite.
The property was sold out from under them to a developer. While it was being torn down another
fire broke out, causing the tons of uncleared rubble and still standing plywood attractions to turn
into the island's second biggest inferno. The site was turned into a housing project.

4. See all 28 photos
Steeplechase Park. It's name came from it's signature mechanical horse ride.
Steeplechase lasted the longest. It had opened in 1897, and had been so successful that it's founder,
George C Tilyou, built more Steeplechase Parks across the country. It even survived a devastating
1907 fire. Within a year Tilyou rebuilt his park, this time within a massive indoor pavilion so that it
could remain open even on rainy days. But while the park could survive a blaze, it could not survive
Tilyou's own family. After his death the park was passed down to his son, and after his death split
between his other siblings. The largest percentage of the park was owned by Marie Tilyou, and after
a nasty fight with other family members on the park's future, decided to close the parks, and to sell
off the rides and property so that no other family member may control it after her death. Fred
Trump, Donald Trump's father, bought the Coney Island property and tore down what was left of
Steeplechase Park. He wanted to build high rise luxury apartments. But he would need the city to
change the zoning on the property from amusements only to residential. He also needed the city to
do a few other things, such as build him a road. But it never happened. Trump ended up selling the
property to the city. And after two decades of indecision on what to do with that property, and after
nearly allowing a developer to build an actual amusement park on the site, it was turned into the
baseball stadium where the Brooklyn Cyclones currently play.

5. See all 28 photos
The dreaded Robert Moses
Every story deserves a good villain. And this hub has one. Robert Moses. He was a New York
bureaucrat who rose to power in the 1920s when close friend, Governor Al Smith, created several
state authorities which Moses was appointed head of. Among them control over the building and
maintaining of housing, buildings, parks, transportation, bridges and roads in the state. Moses made
it clear that he HATED amusement parks, and sought to remove them from the state entirely,
replacing them with his idea of wholesome public parks with athletic fields, playgrounds and
swimming pools. Moses saw Coney Island as public enemy #1, and vowed to wipe it off the map.
However, it seems that with Coney Island he met his match.
Despite the often repeated urban legend that Robert Moses was responsible for the decline of Coney
Island, it seems his only victory was an isolated kiddie park in Brighton Beach which he took with
eminent domain and turned into a municipal parking lot. In the 1920s he was able to extend city
streets past Surf Ave up to the boardwalk, and later move that same boardwalk inland by half a city
block to expand the beach. Both projects resulted in the demolition or shaving of buildings, but as
far as I can tell, no actual amusements. In fact, the buildings removed along the boardwalk were the
bath hoses, and in turn the new boardwalk was within spitting distance of the amusement parks,
bringing them more business. The Aquarium he wanted to build in Steeplechase ended up on city
property that was formerly the Dreamland parking lot and municipal bath house. He built a
pedestrian bridge from the 8th Street elevated subway station directly to the boardwalk, with only
one exit ramp to the Aquarium. He thought this new bridge would cause visitors to bypass the
amusement district. But most of them continued to use the Stillwell terminal, and later the city

6. added staircases on both sides of Surf Avenue. While being credited for the housing project that
replaced Luna Park, that turned out to be the developer who purchased the lot. Moses wanted a
public park on that site, not apartment buildings.
See all 28 photos
Rides like The Cyclone were just too beloved for any politician to allow Robert Moses to demolish
Coney Island. They would change their tune a few years later, but by then Moses was no longer in
office.

7. See all 28 photos
The last remaining artifact from Steeplechase Park, the Parachute Jump.
Coney Island was just to well loved for any politician to be the one responsible for it's demolition. So
Moses never got the permission he needed on any of his schemes that would have demolished or
reduced the amusement district. The Parachute Jump outlived Moses like a middle finger. While
Coney Island remained untouchable for Robert Moses, that did not stop him from destroying other
amusement parks across the state. You will read more about him throughout this hub. Ironically, it
was just after his fall in power that the character of Coney Island changed enough that it began to be
perceived as dangerous, and city officials began seeking to have the amusements replaced. What
saved it was it's immense size. It was just too large an area for any city official to take in one project.
And while you may think Coney Island was unique, New York City had six other amusement districts.

8. See all 28 photos
Part of Rockaway's amusement district showing the LA Thompson coaster that extened into the
ocean
Coney Island's biggest rival was The Rockaways, a peninsula just South of Queens. Originally it was
only accessible from Nassau County. The first railroad to the Rockaways in the 1860s went through
Jamaica, then down to Valley Stream before going onto the branch that hooked West and down the
middle of the peninsula to Rockaway Park. In the 1880s a new railroad was built that crossed
Queens beginning at Rego Park, crossing Woodhaven and then over a series of trestles and man
made islands to cross Jamaica Bay. Once on the Rockaway peninsula the train turned West over an
elevated trestle where it terminated at the Rockaway Park depot. Not only did amusement
businesses open along the edge of the beach, but along the lanes between the trestle's stations and
the beach. There is no exact record of how wide spread the amusements were, but is believed they
existed sporadically along the beach between Rockaway Park and The Hammels, and at least one
large cluster near the Beach 98 Street Station. In that cluster George Tilyou bult his second
Steeplechase Park, William Nunely opened a small amusement park, and in 1901 L.A. Thompson, the
inventor of the modern roller coaster, opened his first amusement park.
See all 28 photos
L A Thompson's amusement park
Long and narrow, Thompson's park originally had a coaster that continued out across the beach, and
then over pilings allowing the tracks to continue past the surf line and over the water before turning

9. around. Predictably the pounding surf did a number on the pilings, and the coaster was removed and
replaced with a three story out and back coaster called The Atom Smasher. When Thompson died in
1926, the park was sold and became part of a larger park called Rockaway Playland.
See all 28 photos
Rockaway Playland in the 1950s
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The Atom Smasher and the rest of Rockaway Playland being torn down
See all 28 photos

10. This birdseye view of Rockaway Playland shows Shorefront Parkway and how it seperated the
amusement park from the boardwalk. Notice the distance now between Playland and the beach.
Amusement parks with not as much property were completely demolished.
In 1935 Robert Moses ( remember him? ) sought to eliminate the amusement district in the
Rockaways. By then most of the amusements had settled along the boardwalk as most patrons were
now coming from the local bungalow colonies instead of day trippers from the train stations.
Deciding that Rockaway Beach needed a parkway, Shore Front Parkway was built on the North side
of the boardwalk. Over 30 blocks worth of businesses along the boardwalk were demolished. Half of
Rockaway Playland was demolished as well as half of The Atom Smasher which needed to be
reconfigured. This pretty much brought an end to the amusement district. Since it was the midst of
the Great Depression, there was no money for any of the amusements to relocate and rebuild.
besides, now that they could no longer line the boardwalk, they would no longer be near the crowds.
Rockaway Playland and a few other amusements in the Beach 98 Street cluster lucky enough to have
property outside of the path of the parkway continued to operate. But the distance from the
boardwalk took it's toll on the foot traffic, and gradually only Playland was left standing. In New
York all amusement parks are required to carry liability insurance. In 1985 the premiums for
Playland's insurance jumped from $50,000 to $408,000. Unable to pay it, they could not open that
season. The loss of an entire season's revenue was too much for the company that ran the park, and
they went bankrupt, and were forced to put Playland on the market to pay off creditors. Sadly, the
winning bid for Playland was by developers looking to tear the park down and build homes on the
site. They were granted the required residential zoning, and Rockaway Playland was demolished.
And with that amusements were no longer in the Rockaways.
See all 28 photos
Clason Point Park was a unique amusement district as the neighborhood was entirely owned by a
single company. Only some of the amusements were owned by that company, the rest, including the
park Fairyland, were independently owned.
Robert Moses did a number on most of the city's amusement districts. One he left alone was Clason
Point in the Bronx, which was privately owned. The point, which was located near the tail end of the

11. East River where it meets the Long Island Sound, was bought by investors who saw it as an ideal
place for a beach resort. They opened their own park, Clason Point Park, the same year they leased
20 acres for an independent amusement park called Fairyland. Other independent amusements
leased land between the two parks. But by the 1920s the East River began to become too polluted to
swim in. Clason Point's large outdoor swimming pool, which use water pumped directly from the
sound, became dark and murky. Locals began calling it "The Inkwell". One hates to speculate exactly
what was in that ink. The pollution in combination with the Great Depression drove visitors away.
Fairyland went out of business in 1935, as did some of the other independent amusements. In 1949
the entire property was sold to developers who removed all the remaining amusements and
converted the area into a private country club.
See all 28 photos
A random street in the North Beach amusement district.
See all 28 photos
One of Northern Beach's two major amusement parks, Gala Park.
Across the river from Clason Point was another major amusement district. North Beach in Queens.
Aside from having many independent amusements along the resort's beach, it had two major
amusement parks. Gala Park which opened in 1901, and Stella Park which opened in 1907. North
Beach was conceived and created by a beer company with the intention of creating what amounted
to the world's largest beer garden. Exclusively selling their beer, of course. It eventually became
more known for it's saloons than for it's amusements, and public drunkenness became the norm. As
such, families began avoiding the place. North Beach also suffered from the pollution of the East

12. River, but worse, got pollution coming from the Flushing River, and from Riker's Island which was
then used as a dump. By the 1920s the sand on it's beach was hidden below two feet of muck made
up of any pollutant you can think of. But it still remained a popular drinking destination. That is until
the Eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1919 and the selling of alcoholic beverages was made
illegal. North Beach's regulars dispersed to the speakeasies and never returned. When Robert Moses
used eminent domain to take the entire resort in 1929, all the amusements were more or less out of
business. Moses had intended on razing the entire area and building a city park in it's place, but in
1937 Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia decided to use the land for an airport instead. The airport baring his
name is still there to this day.
See all 28 photos
Staten Island's Midland Beach Amusement district was only slightly smaller than....

13. See all 28 photos
....the South Beach amusement district, also on Staten Island and both side by side. Staten Island
residents were very lucky.
See all 28 photos
Thanks to Robert Moses, the entirety of amusements on Staten Island was reduced to this small
family owned amusement park on Sand Lane. Complaints from nearby residents was too much for
the owners who finally closed the park.
Aside from the city having a North Beach, it also had a South Beach, over on Staten Island. The
beach is still there, but it's amusements are long gone. In fact, Staten Island had two amusement
districts side by side. The amusement district of Midland Beach was right next door. But South
Beach was by far larger, and had a major amusement park called Happyland which operated
between 1906 and 1927. Independent amusements and small amusement parks continued to flourish
on both beaches until 1935 when, you guessed it, Robert Moses decided that Staten Island needed a
new parkway. Just as he had done in the Rockaways, Moses constructed the Shore Front Drive
adjacent to the boardwalk, demolishing every amusement in it's path. Today that parkway is called
Father Capodanno Blvd, and at six lanes wide, you can see how ridiculously unnecessary it was. Only
the amusements along Sand Lane, the street between the beach and the closes transportation hub at
Hylan Blvd, survived. But they were gradually crowded out by residential buildings. In 2004 only the
South Beach Amusement Park remained. Facing increased noise complaints by local residents and
skyrocketing land taxes, the owners decided to close the park and sell it to condominium developers.
It's arcade across the street remained open for another couple of years, but increasing complaints by
locals convinced the owners to sell off that property as well.
See all 28 photos
America's earliest amusement district was Jones's Wood in Manhattan, opening in the 1860s.
That takes care of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. But what of Manhattan? You

14. would probably doubt Manhattan ever had an amusement park, let alone an entire amusement
district. As it turns out, Manhattan had two amusement districts. The first was in the upper east
side, just East of Third Ave somewhere between 66th and 75th Streets. Jones's Wood was originally
a large estate made up of farmland and still virgin woodland that had not been developed by the mid
1800s. There was no Central Park yet, so the only way for poor and middle class Manhattanites to
enjoy a picnic was to trespass on private property. The rich became so sick of shooing away
trespassers that they began building iron fencing around their lawns. Jones's Wood was not yet
fenced off, and soon became a favorite picnic ground for the local German immigrants, even after
the city built Central Park.
See all 28 photos
This map shows Jones's Wood ( bottom ) as compared to Central Park.
Prior to the existence of any public park, some developers saw a way to make money by creating
private parks and charging admission. These were called pleasure parks. The owners of Jones's
Wood decided that if their property was to be used as a picnic area, then they may as well profit
from it. So in the 1860s a large section was turned into a pleasure park. As more and more people
visited Jones's Wood, space was leased to concessions. Initially just food stands, but eventually
games and amusements. By the 1890s so much of Jones's Wood had been leased for amusements
and other concessions that there was very little space left for picnicking. For this reason, Jones's
Wood is usually credited as America's first amusement park. Meanwhile, the rest of the Jones's Wood
estate had been sold off to developers leaving the amusement district as the final section still not
developed. If not for the money the property owners were making from leasing to the row after row
of shacks, rides, tents and booths that comprised the amusement district, they would have closed the
pleasure park and sold off that property as well. In 1894 one of those concessions burst into flames.
With so many other concessions packed together, it was not long before the entire amusement
district and a few nearby buildings were ablaze. When it was finally put out nothing was left but ash
and burned timbers. The owners decided enough was enough, and although most of the concession
owners wanted to rebuild their businesses, the pleasure park was closed and the land sold off to
developers.

15. See all 28 photos
High above the Harlem River was Manhattan's Fort George amusement district.
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Paradise Park ( on the left hand side of this postcard ) at sunset. One of many ferris wheels can be
seen in the distance.
The loss of Jones's Wood displaced all of the amusement concessions. The city flat out refused to
allow them to relocate in Central Park. Manhattan had become so developed, that the closest tract of
undeveloped land was 100 blocks North, along Amsterdam Ave in Fort George. There, along the cliff
that faced the Harlem River, was plenty of virgin real estate that had not yet been developed. The
strip of amusements began to grow in size. In 1905 brothers Joseph and Nicholas Schenck, along
with businessman Marcus Loew, founded Paradise Park. All three men were fascinated by the
potential of the amusement park business. Five years later the Schenck brothers would also
purchase New Jersey's Palisades Park. Paradise Park brought prestige to the Fort George
amusement district, which was soon called Manhattan's Coney Island. The area saw more and more
visitors every year, and the number of independent rides and attractions grew along Amsterdam
Avenue.

16. See all 28 photos
Another view of Amsterdam Ave in Fort George's amusement district. Hard to believe that all of this
was once in Manhattan.
But while the area near the East River remained undeveloped, there were plenty of brand new
apartment buildings and homes built to the West of it, full of neighbors who complained about the
crowds and their noise. They petitioned the government to have the amusement district shut down.
But it had grown so popular with the rest of Manhattan, no politician would do it. In 1913 and
arsonist, perhaps a local resident who had enough, set Paradise Park on fire and burned it to the
ground. The Schenck brothers talked about building a bigger and better Paradise Park, but their
lease on the property expired in 1914. A group of residents had pooled their money and began
buying out leases on the property the amusements sat on, and that included Paradise Park. By this
time the Schenck Brothers and Marcus Loew had lost interest in the amusement industry. They were
now fascinated by the growing motion picture industry, and a few years later would sell off all their
amusement park holdings. Loew would go on to found M.G.M. while Joseph Schenck would become
a very successful producer. With Paradise Park and most of the amusements being driven out of the
area, attendance dropped. The remaining amusements survived only because they had the foresight
to buy their property. But with so few visitors to the amusement district they would all quickly go
out of business. The local residents won out. Fort George went from being the new Coney Island, to
a dim memory within a couple of years.

17. See all 28 photos
Ulmer Park
There was a reason why most amusement parks opened in amusement districts. They were usually
built in areas that were already drawing crowds, like beach resorts. And to be fair, they didn't start
as amusement districts. The first amusement built there was built alone. The others showed up
because the area proved profitable. If you were going to invest in an amusement park, it was less of
a risk to build it at places like Coney Island or North Beach. Still, there were a few early attempts to
build outside of the safety of an established amusement zone. Ulmer Park was built in Bath Beach
roughly a block South of Lafayette High School. Opening in 1893, the owner, William Ulmer, was a
successful beer brewer, and came up with the idea for the park as a way to sell his beer. But it was
built too close to Coney Island, which drew away what little patrons he had once Steeplechase Park
opened. Ulmer Park went out of business in 1899.
See all 28 photos

18. The amusement park at Bergan Beach
Another park built to close to Coney Island was the Percy Williams Amusement Park in Bergan
Beach. In 1890 chewing gum manufacturer Percy Williams and Thomas Adams Jr. purchased
property on Bergan Island in Jamaica Bay and built a beach resort. The amusement park was added
in 1896. Bergan Beach just barely held it's own against Coney Island, but in 1907 had more
competition from the Golden City resort. The failing amusement park was closed in 1918 when a
decision was made to build homes on the island. As part of the project, the creek separating the
island from the mainland was filled in. But even plans to sell property to residential developers failed
to save the resort. The rest of it went bankrupt in 1920.
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Starlight Park
The same year the Percy Williams Amusement Park closed, another opened in the Bronx along the
Bronx River at 177th Street. Starlight Park was conceived as a sort of World Fair exposition. The
Bronx International Exposition was organized to celebrate the borough's 300th anniversary. There
would be an amusement midway, while the rest was to be the typical pavilions you would expect at a
World Fair. But once The United States entered the first World War, the exposition aspect was
downplayed. There had always been plans to make the 27 acre exposition a permanent feature, only
now it was entirely an amusement park, soon to be called Starlight Park. It thrived through the
1920s, but like most amusement parks, suffered during the depression. In 1932 a fire burned most of
the amusements, and there was no money to rebuild them. The remaining rides were phased out as
they broke down. It's athletic fields and swimming pool continued to operate well into the 1940s,
until the property was taken by eminent domain by, you guessed it, Robert Moses, to build the Bronx
River Expressway. While Starlight Park was no longer an amusement park, Moses did not want to
give the 27 acre park a chance to bring any amusements back.

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Golden City
The most successful of the stand alone amusement parks was Golden City in Canarsie, just West of
where the pier is today. Designed to be more spectacular than Coney Island's amusement parks, it
opened in 1907 to much fanfare. Golden City was a success, and even did well during the Great
Depression. What finally did the grand park in was, you guessed it, Robert Moses. In 1939 Moses
took all the property lining the North shore of Jamaica Bay for his newest highway. Shore Parkway
would be part of the Belt Parkway, and would run along Brooklyn's South shore from the Narrows up
to Idlewild Airport ( now JFK Airport ). At one point Moses had even wanted to fill in the bays around
Coney Island so that the Shore Parkway's route would run along it's boardwalk. Luckily for Coney
Island, that end of the project never happened, and today the Shore Parkway runs to the North of it
over a viaduct. But Canarsie was not as lucky. The Parkway ran right through Golden City. Moses
also made sure the parkway ran through the Bergan Beach resort. The resort had been sold to
developers in 1925, and among the things they wanted to do was to reopen the amusement park. But
the project stalled for the next decade. Eventually nothing was built, and the island was sub divided
into lots that were sold off. When Moses built his Shore Parkway, the site of the former resort and
amusement park still existed, and there was still interest in having it reactivated. Moses may have
succeeded in demolishing Golden City, but in the process began a chain of events that would usher
in a new age of amusement parks. And for that story, along with the story of many other amusement
parks that no longer exist, read part two here:
Amusement Parks of New York
Lost Amusement Parks of New York City:: Beyond Coney Island
Last updated on April 14, 2014
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