Fight to Landmark the Home of Nathan's
Preservation of Coney Island is such a charged topic that it has practically become an official Brooklyn sport. The next round in the game is one resident’s attempt to save the Nathan’s hotdog building by granting it landmark status and forcing developments to take root elsewhere. The petition, launched on Sunday, had 51 supporters at…
Preservation of Coney Island is such a charged topic that it has practically become an official Brooklyn sport. The next round in the game is one resident’s attempt to save the Nathan’s hotdog building by granting it landmark status and forcing developments to take root elsewhere. The petition, launched on Sunday, had 51 supporters at the time of this post, with a goal of 50,000. Note also that PetitionSpot, the site hosting the petition, has another, similar petition here, with 34 supporters and a goal of 100,000. Do you think the Nathan’s building is worth the fight? For a little history, check out the Flickr posting of the above photo from Wallyg.
Slick: That’s like saying that the plan to reconstitute the internal fixtures of CBGBs inside a Vegas casino means “the CBGB’s experience can be protected.”
“The building is worthless, but the nathans experience can be protected w/o landmarking the building.”
Only if you can’t tell the difference between an original and a reproduction. And please tell us how to rebuild Coney island in a way that doesn’t suck- who decides what that is?
some problems i cant solve but this one i can…
1. dont landmark the building. save the interior including the counters, decorations, etc., and put them into storage.
2. rebuild coney island in a way that doesnt suck…
3. include a spot in the new development for a new nathans that recreates the interior of the original…
The building is worthless, but the nathans experience can be protected w/o landmarking the building.
Snark;
Well put.
From a purely “preservationist” POV, Fisherman’s Wharf is wonderful. They’ve even installed some old electric trolleys along the main drag there (forgot its name). All of it is false however. I was there a few months ago, and felt like I was in one big (nauseating) mall.
Hence, my old proverb:
“Buildings don’t make a neighborhood’s character, people do.”
In the 40s, Dodge City, Kansas, tore down what was left of Front Street in the name of progress. Within a few years, westerns became popular. Dodge City realized it had a bit of a tourist bonanza (so to speak) and built an exact replica half a mile away — a movie set version of the real thing. Could have kept the real thing, but . . . .
Not saying the situation is the same here, but it is hard to imagine Coney I w/o Nathans as is (and I don’t care about the interior — who eats inside?).
> I’ve only heard good things about Faneuil Hall and Haymarket.
> How did it go so wrong in South St. Seaport?
How can you tell the two apart? Aren’t they both on the list of places like Fisherman’s Wharf that function as virtually identical tourist traps, with slight variations in regional cuisine?
Sure it’s worth it! It’s Nathan’s… A real classic and NY landlmark.
By all means, lets destroy another part of Brooklyn history in the name of “progress.” Maybe the Mets or some other borough can rebuild “the original” Nathan’s so as to continue the long line of other identifible Brooklyn historic markers than have been appropriated by others.
Ever been to the horrible abortion of a Junior’s in midtown? Was Jackie Robinson a New York Met? And who can forget the “Brooklyn Diner” in Manhattan?!
“Buildings don’t make a neighborhood’s character, people do.”
Old Bensonian Proverb