Jane's Carousel

History

The wooden merry-go-round (or carousel), which was built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1922, features 48 carved horses attributed to John Zalar and Frank Carretta. The manufacturer designated it PTC #61. The carousel had operated for many years at Idora Park in Youngstown, Ohio until a fire at the park prompted the owners to decide to put the carousel up for sale. [[File:Idora Park WurliTzer Style 153.JPG|thumb|left|The Wurlitzer Style 153 Band Organ resides at DeBence Antique Music World in Franklin, Pennsylvania]]At Idora's 1984 auction, the carousel was sold for $385,000 to David Walentas, a real estate developer, and Jane Walentas, a former art director for Estee Lauder. The auction was described by local Mickey Rindin to Vince Guerrieri in The New Colonist: First, bids were taken on each individual horse. Then, when each individual horse had a sale price, bids were taken for the whole carousel. The opening bid was the sum of the price for all the horses plus ten percent, which came to $385,000. A buyer was found, and a great cry went up from the crowd because the horses would stay together. 'They didn't want it to leave one horse at a time,' Rindin said.

Originally, the carousel was supposed to be located in a waterfront development at Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, created by David Walentas; however, the development was canceled in 1999. The Walentases restored the merry-go-round over the ensuing 22 years, the culmination of which was revealed on October 13, 2006, when it was rechristened "Jane's Carousel." Jane Walentas made it known that she wanted the carousel to be given a permanent place in Brooklyn Bridge Park, going so far as to pay a $500,000 fee for a pavilion to house it designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel. Opinions differed at the time on whether the master plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park (which abuts Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and borders the East River) could accommodate the carousel.

On September 16, 2011, Jane's Carousel reopened in Brooklyn Bridge Park at 65 Water Street in Brooklyn. In October 2012, the carousel suffered minor water damage due to Hurricane Sandy, and the ride reopened a few months later.

Gallery

File:Jane's Carousel 2019 (Manhattan Bridge in background).jpg|View towards Manhattan Bridge, 2019 File:Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan skyline 142956793.jpg|View towards Manhattan from the northern end of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Jane's Carousel is just below the bridge. File:Brooklyn Bridge at Night (13303537933).jpg|Carousel and Brooklyn Bridge at night File:Janes gray jumper BB jeh.jpg|Jumper in Brooklyn File:Janes Carousel glass house MB jeh.jpg|Brooklyn building File:Brooklyn Bridge Carousel.jpg|Another view of the carousel

References

References

1. "NRHP listings, 1966-1978".
2. {{NRISref. 2009a
3. "Major Carousel Builders and Carvers".
4. "Jane's Carousel".
5. The merry-go-round was delisted from the NRHP on October 29, 1985.The listing status change is reported within the downloadable version of the NRIS database. It should appear also in the printed [https://web.archive.org/web/20090508223952/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/Weekly_Register_List_1985.pdf NRHP listings, 1985] but is not readily found there.
6. DeLuca, Matthew. (November 1, 2012). "Jane's Carousel Survives A Very Close Call With Hurricane Sandy".
7. Guerrieri, Vince. "Youngstown's Million Dollar Playground".
8. Cardwell, Diane. (2003-03-13). "Hold Your Painted Horses; Rare Carousel Awaits a Spot in Brooklyn, if Politics Allows". The New York Times.
9. Barnes, Julian E.. (1999-12-12). "Plug Pulled on Dumbo Proposal". The New York Times.
10. "History".
11. Robert. (April 7, 2008). "As the Carousel Turns: Jean Nouvel or Bye Bye to Dubai?".
12. Wadler, Joyce. (2011-09-01). "Jane's Carousel at Brooklyn Bridge Park". The New York Times.