Under The Roller Coaster - A Film by Lila Place
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- čas přidán 6. 10. 2019
- To thousands, the Thunderbolt Roller Coaster was a Coney Island icon, but for Mae Timpano it was home. This enchanting film examines the true-life experience of one woman and her unique relationship to Coney Island living under the famed Thunderbolt Roller Coaster.
Slamdance Film Festival - Grand jury Award Best Documentary Short, Palm Springs International Short Film Festival - Best Documentary, Broadcast on PBS, Museum of Modern Art, Margaret Mead Film Festival
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City Lore, Urban Folklore, Great Local Characters 5, video 185
This is beautiful
Loved it! A very human and meaningful reflection on Mae's and Freddy's life together underneath the Thunderbolt. A beautiful story, they both had a rich life, without being millionaires.
Thanks to Jeannie for sharing this link. What a sad but fantastic little documentary.
Great documentary
Rest in peace Freddy and Mae I hope you found each other again on the other side
Oh my god finally someone documented this house. me and my boy snuck in there a few yrs ago right before they tore down the thunderbolt. a lot of stuff was left behind.
There is an animated recreation of the ride here on youtube, from a first row/seat perspective. I too worked at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park at Coney while in high school as a ride operator, what memories. I guess you could say that I too had sand in my shoes. I remember seeing the Thunderbolt sitting abandoned on that lot just before the demolition by Giuliani, as it was supposedly up for landmark status. I too walked up as close to the ride as I could, fascinated by the ruins. The house was in bad shape by then, broken windows and all with severe overgrowth. And like many others, I'd hoped one of the Coney Island park families would get it operational again. Either the Alberts from Astroland or the Vouderis from Deno's. Someone, anyone. Perhaps if it held on a little longer under landmark status it might have been restored by ZAMPERLA, who is now running most of Coney's amusements. They've re-tracked the Cyclone and have taken great care in keeping the ride going strong. I couldn't see them passing up the opportunity at restoring a relic like the Thunderbolt. Did you also know that there was another fabulous banking coaster with great hills located between the Thunderbolt and Cyclone? It was called the "TORNADO", destroyed by a fire. Perhaps the BEST one out of the three. Here's to hoping for better times ahead for Coney Island.
Wow! I never seen this before and it was something that brought back some memories of when I attempted to help save the Thunderbolt coaster from being demolished in 2000. I saw it for the first time in 1999 when I visited Coney Island, to go to the aquarium and to ride the Cyclone. I saw the Thunderbolt just sitting there overgrown and neglected and I was intrigued by the structure underneath it. I and was just wondering why it wasn't running after so many years, and I did some digging into hit's history. It turned out the coaster was built by the father of modern roller coaster design himself, John Miller, in 1925, just a mere two years before the famous Cyclone was built. The latter of which is still running to this day. The Thunderbolt was built on top of the old Kensington Hotel in an attempt to save on construction costs. The second floor of the hotel was removed, and the owners of the Thunderbolt, converted the remaining part of the hotel into a home.
At the time of my visit, Coney Island was slowly bouncing back from a long state of decline. The beaches were being cleaned up, the boardwalk was fixed up and there was talk of building a new baseball stadium and overall it was looking pretty good. But little did I know what was going on between the city and the current owner of the Thunderbolt coaster, Horace Bullard. I found out he had a huge plan to make an enormous resort that would have been the best thing the area had seen since it's heyday. Over many years he was buying up property in Coney Island for his project which included the Thunderbolt property. He even saved and had the Parachute Drop declared a landmark! He intended to restore it and reopen it. However his plans were shot down when the city planned to build the stadium I mentioned above on the old Steeplechase property (which he had leased) and thus putting a huge hole in his plans. He didn't sit still for it either and attempted to fight back. All of a sudden, after so many years of standing without any issue, a 'rogue' city inspection of the Thunderbolt deemed that it was unsafe and had to be torn down. I got wind of this and began to talk to many that were rallying to save the coaster, and that included Dick Zigun in the video above.
Well, sadly, as it turned out, we were not successful and the coaster was torn down anyway. It was done very sneaky and earlier than they said to avoid media and protesters interference. As even Mae said above, when the time came to tear the coaster down, they had a tough time doing it. They even used the very heavy cars from the coaster's own trains as a wrecking ball to help demolish the coaster. The coaster was NOT in any way going to collapse. That was a bunch of bull. The whole thing boiled down to real estate and politics war between the City of New York, and Mr. Bullard and the Thunderbolt just got in the way and was really torn down out of spite. I was outraged and was fuming for several days more, but I slowly started to realize I was getting in too deep. The Thunderbolt was gone and nothing would bring it back. I was saddened that the dream of an ambitious developer was shot down all because the city had it's own plans for the area. The stadium did end up getting built and initially things looked good and much was going on there, but lately...not so much. All the while it just has me thinking that if the city allowed Mr. Bullard to move forward with his plan, I think Coney Island could have seen something spectacular.
Another blow to the head for Coney Island (and myself) was when Astroland announced it was closing down. Things seemed uncertain for the area for a while, but then a new developer came in and bought the Astroland property and completely redid it and created the new Luna Park. Also, the B&B Carousel was bought and restored by the city and it has a new life and new location near the parachute drop. Finally, while the land the Thunderbolt was standing remains largely unused, in 2014, along a small strip along the east side of the property, Luna Park built a new roller coaster that bears the same name as the classic Thunderbolt.
So all of this came back to me when I watched the video above. I had never ridden the Thunderbolt coaster even though it was running in my lifetime, but I was a small child back then and it closed long before I was age to ride roller coasters. However, I have ridden the Cyclone quite a few times though and to this day it is the only coaster that remains from Coney Island's heyday. Thankfully though, I see that that area is slowly coming back as an amusement resort area, but will it ever fully come back? It is hard to say.
So do the original poster of the video. Thank you, it was nice to see that.
The baseball stadium sicks, the only thing good is the view of new thunderbolt
Wow what a story!!!!!!!!!!!! simply amazing thanks for sharing!
@@bigben1986 You're Welcome!
Thanks for the great story and background as well as trying to save the Thunderbolt. I grew up a few blocks from there and man this brings back memories and made me tear up a bit cause I always wished it would have been restored. I love the Cyclone but seeing the Thunderbolt just sitting there for so many years and then being torn down in the middle of the night was such a travesty! I don't get down to Coney island as much as I'd like to these days though I'm still in Brooklyn but it's certainly in alot better shape than when I was growing up there. That said..there should be alot more being done and it's always been a bummer that only the Child's building still remains from Coney islands' heyday. As well as an old vaudeville theatre across from Nathan's but it's not a theater anymore and I'm forgetting what if anything it's used for. I did get up on it's roof one time years ago to watch the mermaid parade but didn't see anything really inside the building. Alot of old time famous actors and what not performed there..Groucho Marx comes to mind..as well as possibly Houdini if I remember correctly. My dad actually worked as a teen at the original B&B carousel and I wish they'd left it on Surf ave as well..but it probably gets more business now that it's on the Boardwalk. But it's a shame how these old classic rides and building's were never saved.
@@mbass718 Lots of changes in that area and politics. Both Roosevelt and Giuliani weren't too fond of Coney Island and they had their own plans for it...meaning obliterating it's amusement past. Roosevelt did the projects and the subway / railway and that kind of put the B&B Carousel in a bad location. Giuliani was the one that ruined Mr. Bullard's plans and also had the Thunderbolt torn down. He was bent on getting that stadium built and now I don't hear anything that goes on there, except for the Mermaid parade. I would say that there was some positive projects of late and it was Bloomberg that had the B&B carousel restored and put in a really nice building. Then the Zamperla family came here and created a new Luna Park.
Even though I have never rode it, I did have a soft spot for the (old) Thunderbolt. But I would have really loved to have seen the Tornado. Many who have ridden it say it was an awesome, albeit scary ride.
However, of the three old coasters, thankfully the best one is still around today and that's the Cyclone. It was the first wooden coaster I have ridden and once I got a taste of a woody, I wanted more. So to this day, I do favor a wooden coaster over a steel one. I have heard that some of these new RMC conversions are awesome. I saw what they did with some old worn out wooden coasters and it is pretty jaw dropping.
Lovely story!!!
This video is so wonderful. Thank you.
I am from Germany. I saw the roller coaster in the IMAX movie "New York 3D - Across the Sea of Time" and was totally fascinated. It really existed.
My Dad was good friends with Fred Moran. Would tell me how he was such a sad guy. That his once great location turned into a horrible place to be once Steeplechase park closed. He said that he used to know that ride so damn well, that instead of just walking the tracks in the morning, he would run the ride through and know which areas needed nails hammered down.....all from the sound of the ride alone. My father said that ride died when he did, of which is really did as it only operated one more season after he was gone before closing for good.
Wonderful film. It made me sad tho. I love Coney, it really has been transformed so many times, not necc for the better. And when alot of long time businesses had to leave, it was so sad. I liked it in early 70s but that's bc of my age lol.
Wow, what a sad story.
I was born in Sea Gate, right next to Coney Island. Didn't everyone have a roller coaster in their backyard? And a ferris wheel? I miss it.
I remember that home under the roller coaster.
That’s where Woody Allen’s character lived in the movie Radio Days. Under the board walk.
I was a teen back in the '80s, and remember the little house that was under the roller coaster at Coney Island. It (the roller coaster) was abandoned, fenced off, rusted, falling apart and had grass grown all around and on it. The roller coaster just looked too dangerous to be anywhere near it. I thought that's why it was fenced off. I never thought someone was living inside of the house that was under it.
I REMEMBER EVEYTHING ABOUT CONEY ISLAND, ALL 3 ROLLERCOASTERS, THE HOUSE, THE BAD YEARS, AND NOW, IT'S BACK IN A BIG WAY
very sad god bless rip.
What killed Coney was the Public Housing it blighted the area as people moved out. SeaGate hung in due to the gate. Coney never recovered!
Exactly. The ngs
Yep, you nailed it here!
Woody Allen's childhood house in Annie Hall. lol.
I think it was in the Movie Radio Days, not Annie Hall. If you haven’t seen Radio Days it’s a good one! It’s one of my five favorite Woody Allen movies, as is Annie Hall.
What a charming video! As a coaster enthusiast I really appreciate this production.☺🎢
thank YOU!!!!!!
How about the old lady with the parking lot who lowered the coffee can on a string from the 3rd floor to get paid. ...and of course the Coppertone billboard......
Such a sad story. I have been a coaster enthusiast my whole life and even though I have never been to New York I have prayed for that particular coaster and the cyclone. Does anyone know the height and speed of this coaster when it was in operation
The height was 80ft and 55 MPH was the maximum speed
There are a couple of videos of it in use here on CZcams, including a front seat animated recreation. There was also an even better roller coaster (IMO) that sat between both the Thunderbolt and Cyclone, called the TORNADO. There are videos of that one too here on CZcams.
I live a few miles away. It was knocked down by bad people.
When was this film produced?
Then Mayor Giuliani ordered it torn down claiming it was going to collapse. They whacked it with the big machine… nothing. That structure was solid as a rock. He only wanted it gone so people going to games at the new Cyclones stadium wouldn’t have to look at it. They probably could have restored the roller coaster just like they did for the Parachute Jump!
All NY does is destroy its history. They just demolished the Hotel Pennsylvania across from MSG. I guess the city had too many Beaux Arts structures. No worries, though. Another soulless 1200 foot glass and steel tower is going up in its place.
Yeah those days people trusted one another, and today it is very dangerous.
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