Could it be that Reverend Billy prematurely administered last rites to Astroland, that highly romanticized jumble of third-rate county fair rides? After yesterday's report that unnamed officials were trying to broker a deal between Astroland owner Carol Albert and developer Joe Sitt (to whom she sold her 3 acres of property for $30 million in 2006), Mayor Bloomberg has now publicly entered the fray. Hizzoner told reporters yesterday that it "would be a shame if......

Well, forget about getting any closure; less than 48 hours after Coney Island amusement park Astroland supposedly shut down forever, city officials are working behind the scenes to try and keep it alive. The Daily News hears buzz from an unnamed official that if property owner Joe Sitt can be convinced to temporarily extend Astroland's lease, the city will agree to lease land to Astroland owner Carol Albert if and when a controversial plan for......

Photograph by brainware3000 on Flickr Astroland closed its doors yesterday, and its owner, Carol Albert, says it's for good. She told the Daily News, "I want to make it clear that despite rumors to the contrary, there are absolutely no negotiations going on." The fate of Astroland has been on a Cyclone-like roller coaster ride over the past few years ever since Thor Equities bought the Coney Island amusement park, with an eye on......

Today will be the last ride for Coney Island's Astroland. That will leave park owner Carol Albert with two dozen rides and 16 trailers worth of items accumulated over 46 years to clear out by next January in order to avoid fines from land owners Thor Equities. In order to clear out ASAP, Albert has already put several of the rides up for sale online from a firm called "Rides-4-U." Rides such as Dante's Inferno......

Carol Albert, owner of the Astroland amusement park on Coney Island, announced today that she has given up trying to negotiate a new lease with developer Joe Sitt, to whom she sold her property in 2006 for $30 million. Albert had promised to shut down permanently if Sitt did not offer her a lease for two years at the same rate by 1 p.m. today. Sitt spokesman Stefan Friedman tells the Post the developer won't negotiate "through the media or with a gun held to his head." ...

The Parks Department says beach attendance fell to 9 million this year. This is way down from the 20 million that went to city beaches in 2006--and in 2007, 8.6 million went to Coney Island alone! This year, only 4.5 million went to Coney, and businesses noticed. One pizzeria employee told NY1, "We had maybe three, four busy days through the whole summer." Hmm, does that means staycations mean staying really close to home? Or......

Photograph by jorgeq on Flickr Astroland, the Coney Island amusement park that seems constantly on the brink of extinction in recent years, appears to be shutting down Astro-fast and will close down for good this Thursday. Owner Carol Albert, in a letter published by today's NY Daily News, wrote that property owner Thor Management "has left Astroland no choice but to notify its employees that the amusement park will be closing permanently at the......

Some anonymous filmmakers have created Save Coney Island: The Movie. From their YouTube page, where they posted a trailer this week, they describe it as follows: "When Thor Equities, an infamous real-estate company, threatens to build condominiums on Coney Island's core amusements, Amos Wengler, the troubadour, must keep the spirit of Coney Island alive with a song before all the memories fade forever. The life, spirit and essence of Coney Island explode on the screen......

As you know by now, the fine folks at Creative Time have brought the torture-tastic waterboarding to Coney Island, via artist Steve Powers. Last weekend Powers and a trio of masochistic lawyers (is there any other kind?) upped the ante by submitting to actual waterboarding administered by a professional interrogator in a ski mask. No footage of that yet, but if you haven't made it over to see the animatronic "Waterboard Thrill Ride" yourself, here's......

The artist behind that animatronic Waterboard Thrill Ride on Coney Island finally fulfilled his dream of making the simulation a reality last Friday night. A professional interrogator, Mike Ritz, wearing a black ski mask, black fatigues and combat boots, waterboarded Steve Powers and three lawyers for a small audience of invited guests (photo after the jump). Art Forum reports: "Ritz then stuffed a large black rag into Powers’s mouth, held the artist’s nose with one......

Photograph by vermilionink on Flickr It's that time of year again, when, with a regularity that rivals the swallows' return to Capistrano, the operator of the Astroland amusement area on Coney Island stares into her future and beholds a murky void. The tradition, which dates all the way back to 2007, is deeply troubling for Carol Albert, who has no idea whether developer Joe Sitt will renew her lease on the land that Astroland......

Coney Island's 150-foot-tall spinning mistress, the Wonder Wheel, turns 88 today. One and all are invited to join in on the celebration at Deno's--some events are planned for the anniversary that should be lasting throughout the day and night. As for the history of the Wheel, it's been up and running since 1920 and each year the 400,000-lb. ride is overhauled and painted. Fun fact: "The only stoppage in the history of the Wonder Wheel......

Photo courtesy Atomische. As part of a Creative Time initiative called “Democracy in America: The National Campaign,” artist Steve Powers has turned a former photo booth on Coney Island into "The Waterboarding Thrill Ride," an animatronic diorama that depicts a prisoner being waterboarded. The Times describes the scene: If you climb up a few cinderblock steps to the small window, you can look through the bars at a scene meant to invoke a Guantánamo......

Photograph of one person pulled from waters off Coney Island (he was saved) by carolitajohnson on Flickr This past weekend, the Coast Guard, NYPD, FDNY and other groups looked for swimmers missing off local shores but ultimately did not find any of the three people who were apparently caught in riptides. Since Friday, four other people drowned off NYC and Long Island beaches. On Friday, two people drowned and two others were missing off......

After Friday's dangerous day where two people drowned and two others were missing off NYC and Long Island beaches, more people were caught by the waters. In Long Beach, 29-year-old man was struggling in the waters; though lifeguards reached him quickly, he died on the way to the hospital. And off Coney Island, a 10-year-old girl is still missing of the waters while another child was pulled from the same waters earlier in the day.......

Since beloved Washington State punk band Sleater-Kinney dissolved two years ago into an "indefinite hiatus," drummer Janet Weiss has carved out a new niche for herself in Stephen Malkmus's small family of musicians, the Jicks. Weiss played an active role in the creation of Malkmus's fourth full-length "solo" album, Real Emotional Trash, which came out in March. In its wake she's been tearing up the road in the U.S. and Europe with Malkmus and......

After lots of partying and posturing, Lola Staar has achieved her goal of re-opening Dreamland Roller Rink on Coney Island. Kinetic Carnival reports that an official announcement is expected soon, but expect the rink will be open July 19th through mid October (from 12 noon to midnight every weekend). Only fleetingly opened last year after she won a contest, Staar (real name Diana Carlin) has spent her waking hours trying to make her dreamland a......

Yesterday's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest had a lot to live up to after last year's heavily-hyped and record-breaking victory that saw Joey Chestnut bring the Mustard Belt back to America by snapping the six-year victory streak of legend Takeru Kobayashi. How did they manage to top it? Overtime! After the two giants of competitive eating ended regulation in a dead heat at 59 franks a piece, Nathan's officials scrambled and decided to hold......

The hearing held to Save Coney Island on June 24th was well attended, but lacked some of the area's supportive characters. Rosie Perez, Murray Hill, Dreena De Niro and others were all showing their support in a different way at the (poorly scheduled) premiere of a Lola Starr's short documentary. Starr is currently trying to make her Dreamland Roller Rink a permanent fixture on the island. Below is a video of testimonials by those who......

After last year's Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, six-time world hot-dog-eating champ Takeru Kobayashi declared: "I will definitely beat him next year." His opponent, Joey Chestnut, had won by eating 66 HDB (hot dogs and buns) to Kobayashi's 63. Despite not earning his way in to the contest as a regional qualifier, last year's loser be on hand this year in an attempt to earn back the title. The Brooklyn Paper (jokingly) says Kobayashi......

An amusement park ride inspector warns that some of the rides at Coney Island are so dangerous they should not be open for business. Last summer a man died after surgery to heal vertebrae fractured on the Cyclone, but the rides now targeted by “amusement-safety consultant” Walt Reiss don’t include the famous wooden roller coaster. Reiss, who has previously trained New York City ride inspectors, tells the Post that the “Swingout” ride is so unsafe......

Last September the NY Aquarium's walrus Ayveq, along with Kulu, brought a new baby Walrus into the world. Sadly, the Brooklyn Paper reports that the nearly one-year-old walrus is now fatherless; at age 14 Ayveq has died (most likely of a bacterial infection)...but at least he left a legacy. Aquarium Director Jon Forrest Dohlin told the paper “We are all still in shock about it. He was an absolute delight. He had a magnetism and......

Savitri D., normally acting as director of the Church of Stop Shopping, became a mermaid this past weekend. After marching in the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island as Queen, and attending the Ball later that night, she began a hunger strike. She now sits in a storefront on Coney Island, fasting until a scoping meeting tomorrow regarding the fate of the area. You can see her on a livecam that's been set up; she talked......

Photo, by joe holmes at flickr By all accounts, it seems like Saturday's Mermaid Parade was a great deal of fun, enjoying perfect weather and drawing large crowds. One can only hope that the Coney Island tradition dating back to 1903 remains as popular in coming years. Thanks to everyone who tagged and/or submitted their photos "gothamist." Update: We've added more pictures to the gallery!......

Mermaid Parade Coney Island 2008 from Seamus Condron on Vimeo Yesterday's festive Mermaid Parade brought out many revelers, some of whom captured the festivities on video. Here are some of those videos--if you have some, let us know by emailing us at tips(at)gothamist(dot)com. Above is some of the parade floats and participants, and below is one of the Brooklyn Bombshell Revue, via Rikomatic: After the jump, three more videos including Reverend Billy, Mermaid Queens......

2007 Mermaid Parade, by ktempest at flickr This afternoon (2 p.m.) is Coney Island's annual Mermaid Parade, which is the semi-official start of summer for many New Yorkers. It's generally one of the most joyous occasions one can come across in the five boroughs, so let's hope it doesn't take on a funereal tone considering the possible destruction of the boardwalk in its present state. Mermaid Queen Savitri D. will commence a hunger strike......

Reverend Billy and Savitri D have been named King Neptune and Queen Mermaid of the 2008 Coney Island Mermaid Parade, taking place this Saturday, and they're using their power to save Coney "from the gentrifying apocalypse of RETAIL ENTERTAINMENT HELL!" But as they say, No pain, No Gain -- and in order to help their cause, the Queen Mermaid has declared a hunger strike.The Queen Mermaid will refuse to go back in the ocean! She......

The war between photographers and police wages on, with the latest battleground being Coney Island. The Village Voice reports that Simon Lund, a Manhattan commercial photographer with a habit of hitting Coney 10 to 20 times each summer for personal photographic expeditions, was busted by the NYPD. The thing is, he didn't do anything illegal. The paper talked to Todd Maisel, vice president of the New York Press Photographers Association and a Daily News photographer,......

Last summer was a rough one for some riders of the 81-year-old Coney Island Cyclone; the Post reports that at least seven people were injured throughout the season while riding the roller coaster. According to Astroland operator Carole Albert’s website, the ride “has the highest safety standards in the outdoor amusement industry,” and in order to maintain that perception, Albert’s been trying to quietly settle the ensuing lawsuits out of court. The injured riders......

A patron of the Coney Island boardwalk bar Ruby’s got sent on a shocking detour during a trip to the men’s room over Memorial Day Weekend. It so happened that Observer reporter Chris Shott was having a beer at the bar around 5:30 Saturday when the owner abruptly pulled the plug on the jukebox and threw everyone out.As the boozy crowd abandoned their beverages and shuffled out, a slew of firefighters, police and paramedics huddled......