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Childs Restaurant (Surf Avenue)

Childs RestaurantsConey IslandNew York City Designated Landmarks in BrooklynRestaurants in BrooklynSpanish Revival architecture
Use mdy dates from September 2019
Coney Island USA
Coney Island USA

The Childs Restaurant Building on Surf Avenue is a New York City designated landmark on Surf Avenue at West 12th Street in Coney Island, Brooklyn. It was completed in 1917 for Childs Restaurants, an early restaurant chain and one of the largest in the United States at that time. Its design, by John Westervelt, Childs' in-house architect, shows "elements of the Spanish Revival style." The company built a much larger Childs location on the Coney Island Boardwalk in 1923, but continued to operate the Surf Avenue location until 1943. In later years the building was used for other restaurants and nightclubs. In 2007 the property was acquired by Coney Island USA, a local arts organization that is headquartered in the building, which currently houses a theater, a bar, and exhibition and office space. The building was designated a New York City landmark in 2010.The building sustained considerable damage in Hurricane Sandy on October 31, 2012. With the help of many volunteers, Coney Island USA repaired the worst of the damage and reoccupied the building by spring 2013.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Childs Restaurant (Surf Avenue) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Childs Restaurant (Surf Avenue)
Surf Avenue, New York Brooklyn

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Latitude Longitude
N 40.5753 ° E -73.9798 °
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Surf Avenue 1208
11224 New York, Brooklyn
New York, United States
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Coney Island USA
Coney Island USA
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Steeplechase Park
Steeplechase Park

Steeplechase Park was a 15-acre (6.1 ha) amusement park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Steeplechase Park was created by entrepreneur George C. Tilyou in 1897 and operated until 1964. It was the first of the three large amusement parks built on Coney Island, the other two being Luna Park (1903) and Dreamland (1904). Of the three, Steeplechase was the longest-lasting, running for 67 years. The first rides in Steeplechase Park were standalone attractions scattered around Coney Island that Tilyou had purchased in the early 1890s. Steeplechase itself opened in 1897 to unite these formerly separate attractions, and quickly gained popularity as a family-friendly destination with exhibitionist and risque undertones. It was destroyed by fire in 1907, but was quickly rebuilt. Steeplechase remained profitable as the Tilyou family continually brought in new rides and new amusements, such as the Parachute Jump. However, by the 1960s Steeplechase Park was becoming unprofitable due to high crime, the growth of suburban getaways, and the area's general trend toward residential development. After the park closed in 1964, developer Fred Trump purchased the land and planned to develop it for residential use, but this never came to pass, and the site was used for seasonal amusement rides during the 1970s. A dispute ensued over the proposed use of the Steeplechase Park site in the 1980s and 1990s, as two developers disagreed over whether to rebuild the amusement park or build a sports complex on the site. A minor-league baseball stadium called Keyspan Park (now Maimonides Park) was built in 2001. The Parachute Jump is the only remaining portion of the former amusement park. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation maintains the land under Maimonides Park as part of a green space also called Steeplechase Park. Steeplechase Plaza, a portion of Luna Park (2010) that contains the B&B Carousell, was named in homage to the former Steeplechase Park.