Coney Island is not dead yet, apparently.
The carnival community will come alive for at least a few more days this summer, thanks to 13 performances by the Cole Bros. Circus, starting on July 30.
Thor Equities, Coney Island’s biggest landlord, announced the news this week, sparking unusual enthusiasm among the sideshow set, many of whom oppose Thor’s $2-billion plan to transform the seedy neighborhood into a Vegas-style playground.
“Hey, it is a step in the right direction,” said a man calling himself New York Dave on the ConeyIsland.com message board. “Better than vacant lots, anyway. I just hope they budget for prompt elephant s—t removal.”
It’s an unusually popular move for Thor, which owns most of the entertainment district and which has created enemies with its planned closure of Astroland, its auctioning off of the Astrotower, and its ousting of carnies from the old Henderson’s Dance Hall.
In addition, the area where Thor hopes to build its amusement and condo Xanadu has been largely bulldozed in anticipation of getting a city greenlight to build.
The announcement comes five months after rumors swirled around the possibility that a different show — the Big Apple Circus — was coming to town. And chief Sideshow freak Dick Zigun takes credit for transforming the idle gossip into an actual circus.
“Many ideas get tossed around at Coney Island Development Corporation meetings in private and only 10 percent see the light of day,” said Zigun, a member of the CIDC.
“There was once general, non-specific talk of Thor having a circus for interim use of the property, and I provided a specific name and phone number.”
Cole Bros. Circus’s 2,000-seat big top will sit just off the Boardwalk on the now-vacant lot between Stillwell Avenue and West 12th Street.
The twice-daily Cole Bros. Circus performances (three on Saturday) will run from July 30–Aug. 4. Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for children. Visit www.colebroscircus.com to buy tickets. Also in store is a “Monday Movie Madness” festival, starting July 9, and the Hippo Slide, supposedly the world’s largest inflatable water slide.
The twice-daily Cole Bros. Circus performances (three on Saturday) will run from July 30–Aug. 4. Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for children. Visit www.colebroscircus.c… to buy tickets. Also in store is a “Monday Movie Madness” festival, starting July 9, and the Hippo Slide, supposedly the world’s largest inflatable water slide.
