Friday, November 19, 2010

Locals want donation used to restore carousel

From the Daily News:

LOCAL residents are calling on city parks officials to earmark donated cash from a Forest Park film shoot for the shuttered, historic carousel.

Crews filming the "The Sitter" took over the park and the carousel in recent weeks to shoot scenes for the comedy.

A spokesman for 20th Century Fox, the film's production company, said it made a "substantial" donation to Forest Park.

Both the film company and the Parks Department have refused to disclose the amount.

The carousel, called priceless by experts, has been closed for two years while the Parks Department searches for someone interested in operating it as a concession. It was crafted more than 100 years ago by Daniel Carl Muller, considered a master woodcarver of the genre.

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski pointed out that the crews also filmed at other locations in the park.

"I understand people's concerns for the carousel, but that donation is for use of the park," she said. "The movie crews did some cleaning and repair work to the carousel and the concession stand. You have to consider that an in-kind donation."

3 comments:

Rich Parkwood said...

"Parks Department searches for someone interested in operating it as a concession".

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!!!!

Clearly, they don't give a shit about this landmark and are just waiting for it to become so dilapidated that it has to be demolished (remember the Aquacade?).

Whatever cleaning and repair work the film crew did is all the restoration that this carousel will ever receive.

Prove me wrong, Parks Dept.

Smarter than Babs said...

Whatever cleaning and repair work the film crew did was cosmetic and just enough to make it look good on film. They did nothing restorative to it, and after 2 years of non-use, I guarantee you it's a mess.

Not only are they just going to let it sit until it's too dilapidated to fix, they'll probably auction it off for a few quick bucks.

Anonymous said...

Your right, The film company only made it look presentable for their own use. Which is their right . Their not required to fund the future of the carousel.If you have a few extra dollars give to the carousel.