Dumbo NYC

Notes from the DUMBO, Brooklyn NY neighborhood


Jane’s Carousel Open For Season

May 22nd, 2007


 (Photo by Jane Walentas)

With Spring’s arrival, Jane’s Carousel is now open for viewing on weekends (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 12noon to 6:00pm). Jane Walentas envisions the carousel to be part of the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Park planners say they’re still in discussions about the inclusion of the carousel. Mrs. Walentas says she’s already talking to architects about the design for the building where it’ll be housed. She says she envisions a bright, glassy pavilion so the carousel can be seen even from across the river.

Jane’s Carousel
56 Water St. Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY
The First Carousel on The National Register will be open Fridays through Sundays from noon to 6 pm.

{The Carousel News and Trader Talks About Jane’s Carousel, 19Jan2007, DumboNYC}
{To the Children of Dumbo: Experience Jane’s Carousel 12/8, 8Dec2006, DumboNYC}
{A Chat With Jane At The Carousel Opening, 16Oct2006, DumboNYC}

Filed in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Dumbo People, Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, Water Street at 12:00 am
Comments
  • Marianne Yeager
    When I finally found your site and saw her beauty once again. I was filled with so many wonderful memories. I was always in awe of there beauty. How I wished it could have stayed in Youngstown, but to see her in all her beauty once again is wonderful. I felt the tears well up and I was a child again.I am sixty years old and I would have loved my grandaughters to feel the thrill of riding her as the Wildcat went streaming by.Thank you for her awesome preservation.
  • Linda
    I am from Youngstown and it is wonderful to see the beautiful carousel finally restored - thank you for all your work, it looks lovely. We would like to plan a trip to NY to see it. What is the charge to view the carousel and are we able to photograph it to show the folks back home? How are plans coming to place it in Brooklyn Bridge Park so that it can be rode again? I have two children and would love for them to ride it someday. thanks so much, Linda
  • Joan Yanchick
    I grew up in Youngstown, too. WOW!How beautiful Jane's Carousel is!! What an endeavor to restore this magnificent gem to its original glory!! I am interested in chartering 1-2 Busses to see the Carousel we all enjoyed so much as children and as parents. Youngstown people have the biggest hearts for the special days we had growing up there.....and how you have melted our hearts again, Jane Walentas! Thanks for the memories......
  • Geez
    I can't believe people are so emotional about a friggin carousel.
  • loose stool
    Hey man, Even I know about Idora Park. Its the best god damn amusement park that ever was. Like I said before, the magic carpet ride with fat kids was the best. Come to think of it, putting a fat kid on one end of the wild turtle ride was good because everybody would lean on him and try to push him out. Instant DEATH!
  • Jeanette
    In reply to Geez, I guess you never had the opportunity to have a haven like Idora Park in which you idled away peaceful summers with family and friends, strolled the midway and snacked on concessions. There were record hops weekly and big name entertainment appeared here.
    All the companies in Youngstown threw yearly parties for their workers and their families.
    I feel sorry that you were never set loose as we were in a safe place to ride rides and play penny arcade games.
    Also, those of us in Youngstown who saw our community disintegrate before our very eyes as the steel industry closed down, were devastated as the no longer lucrative park burned. It seemed like the end of everything good.
    The carousel does mean so much to us because the era of prosperity here is over.
  • Joan Yanchick
    In response to Geez....Just becauase you don't get it, doesn't mean there is "nothing to get" !

    You just wouldn't understand. I don't expect you to understand.
  • Geez
    No offense intended towards Youngstown. I'm no stranger to hardship, but still, a carousel? Yawn.
  • really, c'mon, stop biting my
    Jeanette,

    I like the carousal.

    However, perhaps (I don't KNOW this, but just perhaps) some of us "never had the opportunity to have a haven like Idora Park in which you idled away peaceful summers with family and friends, strolled the midway and snacked on concessions"...

    because we grew up in New York.

    How will we remember _this_ community that we've watched disintegrate?

    I'd rather have a place to play music than a fancy carousel pet project of the rich.

    That said, again, I DO like the carousel.
  • loose stool
    you know what, really, c'mon, stop biting my handle? I'd rather have a day care center for crack babies than, "a place to play music". Thats just the way I am, always thinking about my burden to society.
  • cookie
    to geez,

    I can see that alot of people out there would not understand this. perhaps if there was something to this effect that was lost from a place in your heart, you might be able to get the picture of what all of us here in Y-TOWN are feeling to see this incredible woman do something so magnificent as to restore a piece of history, and right down to the matching colors. I'd like you to go to wytv.com our local website here in youngstown, and check out the video that talks about Idora Park Carousel, then you will understand what history means to the people of youngstown.
  • Joan Yanchick
    Right on, Cookie!! Understanding the magnitude of Jane's project comes from the heart. If this world was devoid of great people with great hearts we wouldn't have great music or great books or great movies,etc. Youngstowners have a history that is full of culture, because of great people with a vision. Jane's vision has delighted all of us.
  • Lori Kirk Allison
    THANK YOU for preserving and restoring one of the most cherished of my childhood memories with my parents. My father (now deceased) was a steel worker in Alliance, OH (where I was born), and back in the '70s, his company held their summer picnics at Idora. How I loved that park, and that beautiful carousel...it was my favorite ride. My eyes welled with tears this morning, when I saw the story on CBS. I cannot tell you how much it means to see it spinning so brightly again! I hope that someday I can make a trip to see her again.
  • Merry Vanis Bird
    Jane; It was so exciting to watch "Sunday Morning" and see what you have done with the Idora Park Carousel. I lived on the corner of the Hopkins and Canfield Rd. in Yoco and every evening my Grand parents and I would sit on our front porch and watch the wild cat and listen to the music coming from the park. I rode the carousel from 1938 to the mid 50's when I moved away. I was very familiar with the carousel and rode on every horse through the years. From 1946 to the mid fifties I walked past the corousel five days a week on my way home from school, except for winter time. It was the only ride I went on in the park with the exception of the wild cat and the ferris wheel once. That was enough for me. It was the dance hall and the carousel and french fries for me. Thank you for the beautiful restoration you've done. You're a treasure yourself. On a personal note, would you please ask Jane Wardle if she's related to Billy Wardle? Again, thank you for the magnificent work of love you've done. I hope to come to NY again, my favorite city, and I will certainly look you up and hope I can ride the carousel once again.
  • Betty
    Jane, after watching the CBS News Sunday Morning piece about your carousel, I had to write to you. (Link the CBS article).

    You not only have a fan club in Dumbo, but also have a fan club in all of us at Youngstown, Ohio. Thank you for restoring this work of art!
  • Sue Cline (Maiden Name Susan T
    Dear Jane, I was so thrilled and excited to see the story on the carousel from Idora park. I too am from Youngstown, Ohio and went to Idora a few times. My favorite memory is like Peter W Barber, the french fries in a paper cone with vinegar and salt, to this day I tell people about them. I am 55 now and live in Tenn, but have wonderful memories of Idora. The Sunday Morning show aired here on the 13th of July which would have been my Mom's birthday, (She passed away last August,( it will be a year soon.)I thought what a way to remember her by me thinking about all the times she was able to take me there. I appreciate all the time and money it took to restore it. P.S. Don't give it back to Youngstown. You deserve to put it where you want to Again THANKS Sue Cline (Maiden Name Susan Taylor
  • Amy (Fisher) Haney
    Dear Jane, Thank you so much for the beautiful work you've done. I stood against the gate and watched as the horses were auctioned one by one. It was a blessing to hear that the steeds would stay together. It was worth the wait to see them in all of their glory!! Thanks again Amy
  • Joey Buttafuoco
    Amy, is that you? I'm sorry I didn't know you got married. If you want we can take another spin on the merry go round. This time a stationary horse please.
  • Amy
    Joey, are you still that lovable over ripe douchbag? How's the missus?
  • Bill Burley
    I live in NYC and have now for 14 years. I am not only from Youngstown but worked on the Jack Rabbit at Idora Park the summer of 1982 and 1983. I was also on the midway the day of the fire. I too am glad both for Idora & DUMBO that this piece of history has been restored and can offer new smiles and happy memories.
  • Eileen Wolfe
    I am in total awe! I loved Idora Park and had the pleasure of working there all through my teen years. Those were the best years ever! I operated that carousel and many of the other rides my last two years at the park. I have very fond memories of all the people I met while working there. I am glad the carousel is restored and hope to get to NYC to see it!
    Eileen Wolfe
  • loose stool
    You know something I’m glad the subway and huff and puff over the bridge especially Friday mornings.
  • Jim Johnson
    Hey Bill Burley, this is your old organist from St. Pats. I remember seeing you the day of the Idora Park fire, and you telling me that almost nothing was left. A sad day for all of us. I plan to come to DUMBO and see the carousel again. What are you doing in NYC? I live in Nashville now, and am making it as a musician here. Drop me a line and let me know how you are, if you care to. pgnorgan@yahoo.com Jim Johnson
  • Melanie Knight Stein
    This was the first carousel I was ever on as a child. I grew up in Beaver Falls, PA. The steel mill my dad worked for had their company picnics at Idora. I've been looking pictures of this carousel for a long time. Thank you for the beautiful work. I hope someday, I'll be able to bring my daughter to ride it. Or at least maybe take a picture near it. Beautiful! We were there on the day that Idora closed, and that's when I had my last ride.
  • fratello
    Dear Dumboites,

    Listen to the camaraderie and fraternity people express when they hear about the carousel from Isadora Park. This is not mamby-pamby softness. This is what it means to be human. We could use a little more Isadora in these ample hills of Brooklyn, if you ask me.

    I hope the carousel brings thousands of people who remember Isadora park, and inspires hundreds of thousands more to see that what matters is not the size of your rooftop deck, or the view from your window, or the cut of your wife's dress, or the school you went to, the city where you vacation, the firm where you work, or any of the other signs and symbols of success--what matters is none of that.
  • It's Idora Park you moron.
  • RabbitTurd
    This carousel is a slap in the face to anyone who walks by it. Yes, come down and look, not ride, the thing. What complete arrogance is displayed. Like a little girl saying "'my toy, mine mine mine' look how special I am, come look at what I have, but you can't ride, it's all mine... Na na na na". Yeah put it in Brooklyn Bridge park, and show all of New York your arrogance and disregard for others. Yuck
  • Mike
    What??? The above comment made absolutely NO SENSE. Must be a 10 year old kid or a reTurd. The ignorance is absolutely amazing...
  • RabbitTurd
    @Mike

    Please clarify, what doesn't make sense, my post or a Carousel that NO ONE can ride? What is the purpose of a carousel? Enlighten me. Seems to me that showing off one's posession amounts to self glorifying egoism. What's the point of a carousel if no one can ride? This is like grandma covering the sofa and chairs with plastic.

    Also, the name is RabbitTurd, not 're'turd, your cleverness is of a rank amature. Now go worship the rich and gawk at their unrideable toys.
  • RabbitTurd
    I stand corrected! According to the website, the carousel will be open for rides in the park in December 2010! Kids will get to go round and round while sucking on icicles hanging from the roof! Time will tell, however
  • anon
    I can't believe I'm defending a flying Walentas but from what I understand she wants people to ride it but can't get the permit because the horses come too close to the walls. Not enough clearance if a kid goes flying.
    And, it is a cool thing to restore it and donate it to the park. Was kind of disturbed that the park didn't want it. Glad someone came to their senses. Wish we could get a pool in the deal now.
  • Mike
    @RabbitTurd

    Excuse my snark, but you commented with such venom about something you apparently knew nothing about. I thought you were just being a smart ass. If you knew anything about the carousel you'd know that Jane has been fighting to have the carousel in the park plans for years. It isn't just a showpiece. And as anon mentions above, the intention was to allow children to ride it in the current space but there were safety concerns with doing so. The bid to include the carousel in the park was finally successful this year, in part thanks to visitors having access to simply view the carousel... garnering support from the thousands who've simply seen it.
  • dumbostreets
    I bet that there would be maintenance and insurance costs the park might not want to deal with as well.

    I assume some kind of deal had to be struck in that area as well.
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