Coney Island and the Original NATHAN'S

[DODGER DEB]

This article in the NY Daily News today tells of plans to rezone part of Stillwell Avenue at Surf Avenue in BROOKLYN's Coney Island. That area is where the original NATHAN's is located.

Read more....

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/02/04/2008-02-04_coney_island_area_near_nathans_could_be_-2.html

NATHAN'S FAMOUS should be preserved as is, since it is an original. It is one of the few places left that is part of the BROOKLYN WE knew and loved. I know this isn't baseball, but it is a part of BROOKLYN that connected US and OUR Dodgers, just a few subway stops down the track, on the Sea Beach, West End, or Fourth Avenue Local.

What do you think?

[Aa3rt]

One of my fondest BROOKLYN memories...

NATHAN'S FAMOUS should be preserved as is, since it is an original. It is one of the few places left that is part of the BROOKLYN WE knew and loved.

What do you think?

Well Deb, I suppose change is inevitable. h

I know I've mentioned in this forum before that during the late 1950s and early 1960s our yearly family vacation would be a trip to BROOKLYN to visit my paternal grandparents who lived near Marine Park. Once we got there, my brother and I were expected to "behave" while my father and mother visited my father's boyhood friends who still resided in the neighborhood.

One of the few reprieves we had from the boredom was the yearly sojourn to Coney Island to go to Steeplechase Park and Nathan's. This was always near the end of our visit so my father could pick up a couple of pounds of Nathan's hot dogs and bring them home with him. I bought my first beer at Nathan's (a Rheingold naturally)-I was a tall 15 year old and I suppose the hint of a mustache made the counter clerk think I was older than I really was. My mother was shocked, my father just laughed.

In fact, my late Uncle Herb, my father's younger brother, worked for a while at Nathan's after serving in the Navy during the Korean War.

While it's been almost 20 years since I've been to BROOKLYN, I agree that Nathan's is a landmark, representative of the borough. It's like the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. You expect it to be part of the New York landscape. Yes, develop if you must (In retrospect, that may not be a bad thing, I recall all the warnings about getting out of Coney Island before sunset in the mid-1960's.) but Nathan's represents BROOKLYN in this out-of-towner's mind and with Steeplechase Park gone, Nathan's is one of the few remaining landmarks in the area that hark back to an earlier and simpler time.

[Gary Dunaier]

Nathan's in Coney Island, is that what you want? Here are some pictures I took last August...


(Photo taken August 12, 2007. © Gary Dunaier)


(Photo taken August 12, 2007. © Gary Dunaier)


(Photo taken August 12, 2007. © Gary Dunaier)


(Photo taken August 12, 2007. © Gary Dunaier)


(Photo taken August 12, 2007. © Gary Dunaier)

[donzblock]

Yes, that is what I want. In fact I would like to see Nathan's expand. Also, the Brighton trains stop at Stillwell for Nathan's fans. The local went there. I'm not sure about the express.

[LeoD]

Nathan's Hot Dog Emporium at Coney Island. Aug. 1954, picture below.

[LeoD]

Nathan's Hot Dog Emporium at Coney Island. Aug. 1954

[LeoD]

This is the Nathan's of the 1940s, the look I remember

[Aa3rt]

Thanks for the photos!

Thanks for the photos Gary & LeoD. If you can't get enough of Nathan's, perhaps you'll enjoy this website:

Nathan's history

[LeoD]

Thanks for the photos Gary & LeoD. If you can't get enough of Nathan's, perhaps you'll enjoy this website:

Nathan's history

Naturally I've seen this before, but thanks anyway.

[KCGHOST]

Nathan's is great but you do wish they would quit holding that disgusting hot dog eating contest.

[donzblock]

Nathan's is great but you do wish they would quit holding that disgusting hot dog eating contest.

The hot dog eating contest sponsored by Nathan's is in the best of taste compared to the Wing Bowl in Philly.

[stejay]

Oh no! I love Nathans. When i get down to NY(which is for 2 weeks of every month), I used to always go down to Coney, and to Nathans. That is a shame

[shlevine42]

The 1940s photo is the Nathan's I remember.

We lived in Sheepshead Bay in those years, and on Saturdays, my friends and I would often go to a movie at one of the two Coney Island theaters (I think they were Loews Coney Island and The Tilyou).

We didn't care which theater, or which picture was playing; the goal for the day was to stop at Nathan's after the movie!

Everything was ten cents then -- hot dogs, drinks, and those crisp french fries in their little paper sleeves.

I'd buy two small bags, dump them into a larger paper bag, sprinkle in some salt and eat them on the bus ride home.

It was the highlight of our week. And the Nathan's taste is one I've never forgotten.

I didn't know the expression then, but looking back, "it didn't get any better than that!"

[Mattingly]

Nathan's is great but you do wish they would quit holding that disgusting hot dog eating contest.

If ESPN can cover it and this brings more love to the original Nathan's, where you can get hot dogs and seafood, then I have no problem with it.

When that Japanese guy Kobayashi (spl?) won the Mustard Belt some 10 or so years ago, he upped the ante. Anyway, it brings tons of visitors to the Coney Island Boardwalk, since the contest begins around noon and the participants are brought in by bus. It's all a fancy thing sanctioned by some professional eaters organization, and a huge crowd builds up on the 4th of July.

Not everyone likes professional eating, since I've heard of people eating 15 chicken wings a minute, but 60+ of Nathan's most Famous dish in 12 minutes is something interesting. Definitely a part of Brooklyn history.

I remember when they'd advertised some "POP" (Pay One Price) thing around the mid-'70s, where you could ride all day for around $5-8 or so. I never rode the Cyclone, but the Jumbo Jet was pretty cute. The Wonder Wheel was *AMAZING*.

[donzblock]

The 1940s photo is the Nathan's I remember.

We lived in Sheepshead Bay in those years, and on Saturdays, my friends and I would often go to a movie at one of the two Coney Island theaters (I think they were Loews Coney Island and The Tilyou).

We didn't care which theater, or which picture was playing; the goal for the day was to stop at Nathan's after the movie!

Everything was ten cents then -- hot dogs, drinks, and those crisp french fries in their little paper sleeves.

I'd buy two small bags, dump them into a larger paper bag, sprinkle in some salt and eat them on the bus ride home.

It was the highlight of our week. And the Nathan's taste is one I've never forgotten.

I didn't know the expression then, but looking back, "it didn't get any better than that!"

It was an addiction: the hot dogs, the mustard, the fries, the cokes, the enormous crowds. I hope Nathan's does not go the way of Mrs. Stahl's Knishes.