Coney Island USA

1208 Surf Avenue | also 3006 West 12th Street, 1212 Surf Avenue | Coney Island | built 1917

Open on the map5 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1917

    Childs opens a Spanish Revival restaurant at Surf Avenue and 12th Street, designed by John C. Westervelt

    The Childs chain, known for cheap, clean meals, opened this two-story restaurant in the heart of the West Brighton amusement area. Westervelt, who served as the company's house architect for decades, gave it white-painted concrete facades with terra-cotta mosaic panels in the arch spandrels and a red-tiled roof. The concrete made it fireproof, and the Mediterranean look was meant to suggest a seaside holiday.

    “Having already established its reputation ... the company opened this small restaurant at the corner of Surf Avenue and 12th Street in 1917…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1923

    The restaurant is slid west on rails when the city widens a private lane into West 12th Street

    The narrow street beside the restaurant was a private lane called Thompson's Walk. The city widened it in 1923, from 30 feet to 60, and opened it as West 12th Street. To make room, the building's front piers were cut so it could be lifted onto rails and moved west, after which the facade was restored to its original look.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1944

    The Bluebird Casino takes over the former Childs, and later Wonderland Circus Sideshow moves in

    Childs closed this store in the busy amusement district by 1943, when the property was leased to the Blue Bird Casino and restaurant. The building housed the Bluebird Casino from 1944, with other restaurants and clubs coming after. David Rosen's Wonderland Circus Sideshow also set up here.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 2007

    Coney Island USA buys the building, home of its Sideshows by the Seashore and the Coney Island Museum

    Coney Island USA had long been a tenant here, running Sideshows by the Seashore, the Coney Island Museum and the Freak Bar from the building and organizing the Mermaid Parade. In 2007 the group bought the building with the city's help and started restoring its ground floor and exterior. The museum holds artifacts documenting the neighborhood's history.

    Source: brownstoner.com

  5. 2011

    January 11

    The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the Childs Restaurant Building a landmark

    The commission designated the building a landmark on January 11, 2011. Ten speakers at the March 2010 hearing, including representatives of Coney Island USA, Save Coney Island and the Municipal Art Society, spoke in favor of designation, and none opposed. The commission also received over 60 letters and emails of support. The designation report calls the building a rare survivor from Coney Island's long history.

    “There were 10 speakers in favor of designation ... There were no speakers opposed to designation.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Further reading

Nearby

All 12 buildings with stories in Coney Island