Childs Restaurant Building

3052 West 21st Street | Coney Island | built 1923

Open on the map4 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. 1923

    Childs opens its largest and most decorative restaurant at the Boardwalk and West 21st Street

    After street widening destroyed its small Surf Avenue and 12th Street restaurant in 1923, and with the new subway bringing crowds, the Childs chain opened its biggest outlet at the Boardwalk and 21st Street. Dennison & Hirons designed it. Childs was among the first of the chain's restaurants to be styled for its setting, and it proved popular enough that the company later built a similar one on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

    “The destruction of this store in 1923 (due to street widening), and the area's growing popularity led to the opening of their largest and most decorative outlet…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1923

    Colorful terra-cotta fish, shells and Neptune cover Dennison & Hirons's seaside restaurant

    The architects Dennison & Hirons, who usually worked in classical or Art Deco styles, chose a Spanish Colonial Revival look with Churrigueresque touches for this resort. The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company made the ornament, with models by Maxfield Keck and glazes by Duncan Smith. Fish, seashells, ships, gargoyle heads and the sea god Neptune decorate the arches and end piers, and a roof garden with a pergola once topped the building.

    “The Childs Restaurant on the Boardwalk was designed in a resort style to go along with the existing "unique fairyland environments for dreamers.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1932

    The masonry restaurant survives a huge fire that wrecks the Coney Island amusement area

    In 1932 a huge fire devastated many blocks of Coney Island's amusement area. Unlike most of the flimsy resort buildings, the Childs Restaurant was built of masonry, so it survived and even helped stop the fire from spreading east.

    “The Childs Restaurant, unlike most flimsy resort buildings, was constructed of masonry, and survived the fire and even helped keep it from spreading eastward.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 2003

    February 4

    The Landmarks Commission designates the former Childs Restaurant, now a candy factory

    Childs ran a restaurant here until the early 1950s, when the vacant building was bought by the Ricci family, who used it as a candy factory. When the Landmarks Preservation Commission held its hearing in 2002, 28 speakers backed designation, while two of the Riccis opposed it before the owners withdrew their objection. The commission designated the building on February 4, 2003.

    “Two owners of the building, Robert and Carol Ricci, spoke in opposition to designation... Subsequently, the owners wrote another letter to the Commission, rescinding their opposition…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

All 12 buildings with stories in Coney Island