Flushing Meadows Carousel
16 Zoo Path | also 56-01 Grand Central Parkway | Flushing Meadows-Corona Park | built 1939
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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.
- 1903
Marcus Illions carves the Feltman's Carousel in Coney Island, source of 24 horses here
Twenty-four of this carousel's horses began on the Feltman's Carousel, carved in 1903 by Marcus Illions for the Feltman's restaurant and beer garden in Coney Island, on ground now taken by Luna Park. Carousel historian Frederick Fried called it the greatest American carousel. It ran at Feltman's until 1954, its frame built by the Coney Island ride maker William F. Mangels.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1908
The Stubbman Carousel, whose frame and 47 horses turn here today, opens in a Coney Island beer garden
George and Henry Stubbman commissioned an Illions carousel for their beer garden at West 6th Street and Surf Avenue, next to the Hotel Eleanor, a site now occupied by the New York Aquarium. It had 64 horses and spun there until 1953, then ran near Steeplechase Park as an independent concession. Its Mangels frame and 47 of its horses became the base of the Flushing Meadows Carousel.
“47 horses and the frame are from the Stubbman Carousel…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1964
Astroland's Dewey Albert says the Feltman carousel was sold because it lost money
After running indoors until 1962 and outdoors through 1963, the Feltman carousel was packed up to clear space for Astroland's 200-foot Astrotower. Owner Dewey Albert, who had bought the Feltman property with Nathan Handwerker in 1954, told The New York Times he sold it for economic reasons: the ride used too much space and earned too little.
“On January 18, 1964 Albert... said he sold it due to, "Economics. That's the reason.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1964
The rebuilt carousel opens at the World's Fair, charging 15 cents a ride
The American Cavalcade Corporation bought both Coney Island machines, finding the Feltman ride too worn to run without a huge investment, and mounted the Feltman figures on the Stubbman frame. Its home was Carousel Park, part of the Lake Amusement Area at the fair, where a real boardwalk and small food stands were built to give it a boardwalk feel. A promised sponsorship from the S&H Green Stamp store never came, and the ride made its owners little money.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1968
The carousel moves beside the zoo, where Robert Moses wanted it to stay for good
Three years after the World's Fair closed, the carousel was moved from its fair site to its current spot next to the zoo in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. According to Edward Dunne, who worked on the project, Robert Moses had always hoped to keep it running permanently in the park, and it has operated here ever since.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2012
NY Carousel Entertainment takes over the ride and repaints it
The city awarded NY Carousel Entertainment the contract to run both this carousel and the Forest Park Carousel. The operator repainted the machine, sanded and stained its historic wooden floor, put new fencing around the area and added a children's ride, the Choo Choo, a Rio Grande Train.
“On May 7, 2012, NY Carousel Entertainment was awarded the contract to operate both the Flushing Meadows and Forest Park Carousels.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2016
The carousel, with 64 jumping horses and a lone lion, joins the National Register
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016, the carousel carries four rows of figures: 64 jumping horses, 7 standing horses, one lion and two chariots. A rarer feature is the set of slots in its floor that let the horses lean outward as the platform speeds up.
“It contains four rows of figures, including 64 jumping horses, 7 standing horses, 1 menagerie animal (a lion), and 2 chariots.”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Flushing Meadows CarouselWikipedia
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