http://brokelyn.com Food, restaurants, shopping and cheap fun on a budget in Brooklyn NYC Sun, 19 May 2013 17:55:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://brokelyn.com/sweet-jesus-dont-let-this-candy-chain-store-in-coney-do-well/ http://brokelyn.com/sweet-jesus-dont-let-this-candy-chain-store-in-coney-do-well/#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 14:05:47 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=43597 Read More]]>
We will gladly be unhip and buy candy apples at Williams Candy. via Facebook One particularly annoying thing about chains is that they’re all so big on “brands” and “lifestyle shopping.” You don’t just eat at Taco Bell, you have a fourth meal, for instance. And in the case of It’s Sugar, a new candy chain opening up in Coney Island, buying candy isn’t just a way to get a sugar fix, it’s a way to be hip and cool, according to their CEO. If you’re going to buy candy  in Coney, for the love of god, go anywhere else, please. It’s Sugar opened up recently on Surf and Stillwell Avenues, yet another sign of the Thor Equities-sponsored Applebee-ification of Coney. It’s Sugar also happened to open a block away from Coney mainstay Williams Candy, which is fine and all, but then their CEO talked to the Brooklyn Paper and tried to… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/sweet-jesus-dont-let-this-candy-chain-store-in-coney-do-well/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/help-kickstart-the-mermaid-parade-back-to-life/ http://brokelyn.com/help-kickstart-the-mermaid-parade-back-to-life/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 17:46:37 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=43583 Read More]]>
Don’t let this not happen! Brooklyn’s been doing a hell of job coming back from Sandy, what with the grocery store re-openings and neighborhood restorations, but that doesn’t mean everything just magically goes back to the way it was. The Mermaid Parade, for instance, was already struggling before Sandy tried to drown Coney Island, and that just made things worse. There’s even a chance the parade doesn’t happen this year, but Coney Island USA is trying to cover costs with a last ditch Kickstarter. So let’s save the Mermaid Parade! Part of the problem is that the annual parade of bright clothing and weirdness and bonhomie has been a victim of its own success. It attracted an astounding 750,000 people last year, and projected crowds like that take permits and police presence. And that takes money. Coney Island USA, which does a great job curating the weirdness left on Coney, is but… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/help-kickstart-the-mermaid-parade-back-to-life/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/minor-league-baseball-is-here-cyclones-tix-go-on-sale-may-11/ http://brokelyn.com/minor-league-baseball-is-here-cyclones-tix-go-on-sale-may-11/#comments Fri, 03 May 2013 14:57:54 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=43485 Read More]]>
Celebratory forearm bumps for everyone! via Facebook Summer and baseball. They go together like, well, summer and baseball. Of course, because one of New York’s teams is pure evil and the other is drowning in an ocean of debt, it can be expensive to go and enjoy a game. That is, unless you want to head down to Coney Island and watch the Cyclones. Which you should. So good thing tickets for their games go on sale next week, huh? The tickets go on sale May 11 at 10am, so mark it on your GoogleCalendar or write it on your hand or something. How cheap is it to go see a Cyclones game? The most expensive ticket you can buy there is $17. $17! I once got scalped tickets at the end of a lost season for the Mets, I bought them after the first inning had already started and they were… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/minor-league-baseball-is-here-cyclones-tix-go-on-sale-may-11/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/deal-of-the-day-four-hours-of-unlimited-freedom-at-coney-island/ http://brokelyn.com/deal-of-the-day-four-hours-of-unlimited-freedom-at-coney-island/#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:50:34 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=43162 Read More]]>
Whee! Let’s take a break from being terrorized for a moment to think happy thoughts about the summer. Cotton candy, hot dogs, riding thrill rides, doing your best not to throw up in a nearby garbage can after you’ve done those three things in that order. Sadly, the costs for all that fun can add up. But what if there was a way to take a chunk out of that cost? Oh, look at that, there is. Plus, it comes with a free ride on the Cyclone. Yes, AmazonLocal is here to make your summer just a little bit cheaper with this deal offer for unlimited rides at Luna Park for four hours. It only costs you $19, and even better, you can ride the Cyclone once with the wristband you get in the deal too. Which, if you’re going to Coney, is the most important thing to do for the day.… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/deal-of-the-day-four-hours-of-unlimited-freedom-at-coney-island/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/how-the-hell-did-coney-island-come-back-from-sandy-already/ http://brokelyn.com/how-the-hell-did-coney-island-come-back-from-sandy-already/#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:40:53 +0000 Tim Donnelly http://brokelyn.com/?p=42920 Read More]]>
Coney Island was already open for biz in this March 30 photo. Via NPR. It’s summer! Well, it was for a sec, now it’s fussily raining or something. But it’s coming, oh yes, after a too-long winter cooped up huddled around Netflix for warmth. This is a good time to remind ourselves, however, that this summer is going to be different than any we’ve had before because of the harsh reality that many of our beaches, and the people who live along them year-round, are forever changed thanks to Hurricane Sandy. Then there’s Coney which, magically, like how the subways came back sooner than they should, is already up and running again. The Freak Show is still drying out, and other spots won’t return at all, but the rides are back and the vital aorta of the tourist economy is pumping again. How? The answer is in this excellent report from NPR’s… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/how-the-hell-did-coney-island-come-back-from-sandy-already/feed/ 2 http://brokelyn.com/crowdfund-for-coney-before-the-summer-starts/ http://brokelyn.com/crowdfund-for-coney-before-the-summer-starts/#comments Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:10:00 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=42902 Read More]]>
If they want bumper cars and skeeball, who are we to argue? via Facebook OK, so it’s summer now, right? What’s that about 50 degrees this weekend? Whatever who cares. Summer! Which of course has us thinking about Coney Island. Almost 6 months after Sandy, the businesses there are still trying to get over the hump and get ready for the summer throngs. And sure, they could fill out a bunch of FEMA forms and hope that some lunatic Tea Party rep from backwater Alabama doesn’t get people to go along with the idea that sending the rest of the Sandy relief money is “against God’s will.” But they can also turn to us and ask for a little help, which is exactly what they’ve done. Seven Coney Island business have partnered up with Lucky Ant, a new crowdfunding site made exclusively for small businesses, to ask people fo help rebuilding. Now,… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/crowdfund-for-coney-before-the-summer-starts/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/travel-back-to-1913-with-1-50-cyclones-box-seats/ http://brokelyn.com/travel-back-to-1913-with-1-50-cyclones-box-seats/#comments Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:11:42 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=42841 Read More]]>
The way we was Whose fault was it that the Dodgers packed up and moved to LA? Walter O’Malley? Robert Moses? The mysterious higher powers behind all of baseball itself, cognizant of the fact that the West Coast needed baseball and the world needed the Mets? Well, we could argue about it all day. But we’d rather not. Instead we’ll happily take advantage of some nostalgia surrounding Ebbets Field’s 100th birthday, and you can to, because the Cyclones are selling ludicrously cheap tickets to mark the occasion. To celebrate the buried ballpark, the Cyclones will be selling box seats for just $.150, on Tuesday, the same price they were back when the Dodgers played here 100 years ago. Yes, back when Ebbets Field stood, a nickel could get you a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/travel-back-to-1913-with-1-50-cyclones-box-seats/feed/ 1 http://brokelyn.com/do-a-barrel-roll-ride-coney-islands-air-race-for-free-sunday/ http://brokelyn.com/do-a-barrel-roll-ride-coney-islands-air-race-for-free-sunday/#comments Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:18:32 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=42825 Read More]]>
Word of advice: Do NOT stuff yourself with jalapeno poppers before riding Will the Cyclone always be king of the rides at Coney Island? A-doy, it’s only a goddamn landmark. That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other puke-delivery systems good rides on Coney Island. The only problem? You have to pay for them. Bummer we know. What’s the deal with these people and wanting fiat currency in exchange for services? Well, this Sunday, you can avoid all that on at least one ride, Luna Park’s dipping, diving and spinning Air Race. Luna Park employees will be in a tent next to the plane-based thrill ride taking people’s email addresses for the Luna Park newsletter. And what do you get in exchange for your email address? A Luna Park card good for a free ride on the Air Race. They’ll be giving them out between noon and 3pm to the first 500… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/do-a-barrel-roll-ride-coney-islands-air-race-for-free-sunday/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/the-coney-island-history-project-rises-from-a-watery-grave/ http://brokelyn.com/the-coney-island-history-project-rises-from-a-watery-grave/#comments Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:12:12 +0000 Rebecca Fishbein http://brokelyn.com/?p=42448 Read More]]>
CIHP in better days (via Facebook) Coney Island got walloped during Hurricane Sandy, but they’re still making a comeback this summer (with jobs! And an Applebees! and a shooting gallery!). They’re still making Sandy a part of their canon, though: the Coney Island History Project, which got flooded in the storm, plans to reopen on March 24 and will feature artifacts and other pieces that sustained damage. The CIHP’s been trying to document and archive historical Coney Island archives and oral histories since 2004, and they’ve racked up a pretty hefty collection over the years. You can check out pieces of old attractions like a Cyclops head from Deno’s Spook-A-Rama dark ride and the frame from the bygone B&B Carousell, along with photographs and recordings of oral histories that date back to Coney Island’s early days.  And the project had to deal with a pretty significant post-storm cleanup; director Charles Denson says their… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/the-coney-island-history-project-rises-from-a-watery-grave/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/meanwhile-in-manhattan-beach-theyre-looking-for-the-next-jewish-star/ http://brokelyn.com/meanwhile-in-manhattan-beach-theyre-looking-for-the-next-jewish-star/#comments Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:30:22 +0000 David Colon http://brokelyn.com/?p=42260 Read More]]>
Rebbe Pavarotti The success, and zombie, shambling, un-killable second life of American Idol proved that people love singing competitions. Because apparently there just isn’t enough music out there? So of course it got exported to a zillion other countries, so that Armenia, Denmark and Estonia, among others found themselves inundated by amateur singers trying to hit the big time. But what about closer to home? Anything going down in our backyard? Funny you should ask, because ethnic singing competition A Jewish Star stopped in at the Manhattan Beach Jewish Center to look for contestants. And the resulting video is…well, it’s certainly a video! As you can see , the competition exists in the same weird, hilarious, earnest alternate dimension as stadiums full of goyim waving their arms along to praise music. From the strange lyrics of the theme song to the fact that all of the songs seem to have a religious bent… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/meanwhile-in-manhattan-beach-theyre-looking-for-the-next-jewish-star/feed/ 0