Forest Park Carousel
83-98 Forest Parkway | Forest Park | built 1910
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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.
- 1966
A suspicious fire destroys Forest Park's first carousel, which stood on this spot
Forest Park's original carousel, which occupied the site of today's ride, was likely built in 1916 and designed by William Dentzel, son of Gustav Dentzel. On December 10, 1966, it was destroyed in a fire that investigators judged to be of suspicious origin. The city and its concessionaire began planning a replacement in mid-1967 with a $50,000 insurance payout, but little happened until Restaurant Associates was chosen as the new concessionaire.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1971
The Barbuti family sells its Lakeview Park carousel in Dracut, Massachusetts
Built around 1903, this carousel first turned at Lakeview Park, a trolley park in Dracut, Massachusetts, where the Barbuti family ran it for 52 years from about 1920 and locals called its mounts "Bobbie Horses." After the 1971 season the family sold it, a loss the Lowell Sun said marked the end of what had been Dracut's pride. Connecticut architect Victor Christ-Janer bought it and resold it to Arthur Schleifer of Restaurant Associates for $30,000.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1973
Parks administrator Richard Clurman dedicates the relocated carousel in Forest Park
Work started in late 1971, and an opening was announced for June 1972, but it took until mid-November 1973 for Richard Clurman, who ran the city's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Administration, to dedicate the ride. Three technicians had restored it, often making replacement parts by hand. Arthur Schleifer of Restaurant Associates defended the $275,000 cost, calling the carousel a work of art that could not be reproduced today.
- 1973
Victor Christ-Janer designs a pavilion whose roof seems to float when the ride runs
Victor F. Christ-Janer (1915-2008), a New Canaan architect who graduated from Yale in 1947, designed the carousel's pavilion as a round building under a steep conical roof that rises from a projecting band, making it visible on its wooded hill. Instead of the striped brick walls of the Central Park and Prospect Park carousel buildings, he used evenly spaced piers and plain metal doors. With the doors raised, the roof appears to hover and the whole turning carousel is on view.
“For Forest Park, Christ-Janer designed a circular structure, crowned by a distinctive conical roof…”
- 1976
The New York Times credits the carousel's carved figures to master carver Daniel Muller
The carousel was first attributed to Michael or Gustav Dentzel. In 1976 the New York Times reported that its horses, lions and carved saddles bore the hallmarks of Daniel Muller, whom carousel scholar Frederick Fried ranked as the greatest master carver. Of the 12 to 16 carousels made by D. C. Muller & Brother, only this one and the Midway Carousel at Cedar Point in Ohio are known to still run.
- 1988
Carousel maker Marvin Sylvor leases the neglected ride and restores it
Carousel Parks Inc., led by Brooklyn carousel maker Marvin Sylvor, took a five-year lease in November 1988 on a ride that had sat idle for years, covered in graffiti, with parts of its animals broken off. A Sotheby's expert valued it at $1.5 million, and Sylvor compared the deal to getting a Rembrandt for $25. After a $450,000 restoration it was rededicated on July 4, 1989, but closed soon after when its main gear cracked.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2010
The shuttered carousel becomes a filming location for the movie The Sitter
Operator New York One let its contract run out in 2009, the carousel did not run that season, and the Parks Department failed to find a new operator for 2010 despite promises that it would reopen. During that idle stretch in 2010, film crews shot scenes for the movie The Sitter at the empty ride.
“During the ride's closure, it was used as a filming location for the movie The Sitter in 2010.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2012
NY Carousel reopens the restored ride and sells 30,000 tickets in its first season
After winning the lease in 2012, NY Carousel took down the fences around the ride, repainted the structure and reopened the concession stand, and the carousel reopened on May 26, 2012. Ami Abramson of NY Carousel reported 30,000 tickets sold by the end of the season.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2013
Forest Park's carousel becomes the first carousel designated an individual city landmark
The Landmarks Preservation Commission turned down community requests to landmark the ride in December 1998, partly because it was not a permanent structure, and a second attempt failed in 2000. After discussions in early 2013, with NY Carousel raising no objection, the commission designated it that June and a plaque was installed in October. It joined the Coney Island Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel as one of three operating amusement rides in the city with landmark status.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Forest Park CarouselWikipedia
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