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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MARCH 29, 2020
BY ROSE ADAMS
The Coney Island amusement
park will postpone its opening because
of the coronavirus outbreak,
offi cials announced.
“In response to the evolving circumstances
around COVID-19 and
in an effort to slow the spread of
the virus, we at Luna Park in Coney
Island have made the decision
to postpone our opening day until
further notice,” said representatives
at Central Amusement International,
Inc., a corporation that
operates Luna Park, the Scream
Zone, the Cyclone, and many surrounding
shops.
Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement
Park will also delay its April
4 opening — dealing a tough blow
to its owners, who were planning
to celebrate the Wonder Wheel’s
100th anniversary.
“We saw the writing on the wall
a couple of weeks ago,” said Dennis
Vourderis, who owns and operates
the wheel and its adjacent amusement
park with his brother, Steve.
“Of course, we have to take into
consideration what’s going on in
the world. It’s not about us right
now.”
The indefi nite closure of the
amusement district will inevitably
hurt the seasonal businesses in
the area that rely on the park’s attractions
for revenue, said one local
business advocate.
“The consequences of not being
able to make the amount of money
that stores in Coney Island make
from April onward is going to be
detrimental to the community,”
said Alexandra Silversmith, of the
Alliance for Coney Island.
The postponement comes as
many Coney Island businesses are
already struggling to survive due
to the area’s seasonal economy
and rising rents. The People’s Playground
has double the average city
vacancy rate, with nearly 16-percent
of storefronts sitting empty,
according to a city report.
To make matters worse, the
MTA announced last month that
it would suspend F train service
between Church and Stillwell Avenues
on most weekends this summer,
and will replace the trains
with free shuttle bus service.
Business leaders slammed the
decision, claiming that the suspension
Coney Island’s biggest tourist destination will remain closed until the virus subsides.
Photo by Todd Maisel
would lessen ridership and
weaken the local economy.
Transit offi cials are postponing
the start of construction along the
F line, which was slated to begin
on March 20, but will reevaluate
the start date once the threat of the
virus has passed.
However, Luna Park and Deno’s
have no choice but to postpone
the start of the season, after Gov.
Andrew Cuomo implemented a
state-wide “stay at home” order on
March 20, , which requires all nonessential
businesses to shutter.
Still, Vourderis said he that
the Wonder Wheel’s 100th anniversary
celebration is still on
for May 23 should conditions improve.
And now, the party will celebrate
not only the wheel’s centennial,
but also the end of the virus
threat.
“We want to open up with a celebration,
not under these circumstances,”
he said. “We’re thinking
positively and looking forward to a
post-pandemic party.”
Unamused
Coney Island amusement park to delay
opening because of coronovirus
Slope studio offering online art classes
BY BEN VERDE
Paint the town… but remain indoors.
A Park Slope art studio is hosting
online customized art classes, offering
Brooklyn’s would-be van Goghs a creative
outlet while they’re cooped-up in
quarantine.
“All children, they thrive on routine,
and when that routine goes out the
window it’s really hard,” said Valeen
Bhat, who runs Fifth Avenue’s Private
Picassos. “It’s important to keep some
kind of learning going.”
The studio is offering both private
custom lessons for kids and families,
along with public group classes, with
prices beginning at $10.
And to further avoid the scary outdoors,
the customized classes will be
molded to whatever materials the aspiring
artists already have in their
home — ensuring they won’t have to
brave the infected outside.
The teachers will also cater to various
ages and skill levels, and offer
classes in several different fi elds of interest
— including drawing technique,
clay modeling, and bookmaking.
The group classes, which will run
for 30 minutes, will work with a predetermined
theme for each class — like
one upcoming class with a “silly faces”
theme — and parents will be given a
list of the necessary materials beforehand,
which Bhat says are kept as simple
as possible and include household
items and recycled materials that most
houses would have on hand to begin
with.
The studio had been running private
in-home classes for years before
the recent stay-at-home mandates, and
Bhat says they hope to keep their video
classes as similar to their existing programming
as possible.
“We’re trying to keep it similar to
the in-home classes we were previously
running,” she said. “It’s not a one size
fi ts all, it’s not a script we’re reading,
we’re going to be totally live interacting
with the students in real-time.”
Online art classes at Private Picassos
(www.privatepicassos.com/onlineart
classses) Private classes: $64 per
class for one student, $90 per class for
two students, $100 per class for three siblings.
Group classes: Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays from 10-10:35 am. $10
per class.
Learn to make art while in quarantine with online art classes.
Photo courtesy of Private Picassos
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