Horace Bullard (1938-2013) was an American entrepreneur who founded the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

based

Kansas Fried Chicken Kennedy Fried Chicken and Crown Fried Chicken are common restaurant names primarily in the New York (state), New York–New Jersey, Philadelphia, Delaware and Baltimore areas of the United States, but also in nearby smaller cities or towns along ...

chain, and later acquired properties in an ambitious proposal to revitalize

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

Business ventures

Bullard started Kansas Fried Chicken, named after

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists, and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Dece ...

, when he was unable to secure a

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's s ...

franchise. Bullard was from

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...

, and of African American and Puerto Rican heritage, and infused flavors from these communities. The successful franchise eventually closed, though it has a legacy in the many unaffiliated Kennedy Fried Chicken restaurants that grew up afterward, largely started by people in the Afghan American community. Bullard used some of his restaurant profits to accumulate properties in Coney Island, with an aim of reviving its amusement industry. He bought the Shore Theater and the

Thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hel ...

, and developed a plan for a new

Steeplechase Park Steeplechase Park was an amusement park that operated in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, from 1897 to 1964. Steeplechase Park was created by the entrepreneur George C. Tilyou as the first of the three ...

in 1985 that was initially projected to cost $55 million, and that earned the support of the

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...

administration. The succeeding Giuliani Administration was less supportive, and pushed the old Steeplechase site to be a minor league baseball stadium, which is known today as

Maimonides Park Maimonides Park (formerly MCU Park and KeySpan Park) is a minor league baseball stadium on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. The home team and primary tenant is the New York Mets-affiliated ...

. Giuliani also controversially ordered the demolition of the Thunderbolt without notice to its owner Bullard.

References

External links

Interview with Ita Bullard - wife of Horace - conducted by the Coney Island History Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullard, Horace 1938 births 2013 deaths 21st-century African-American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American chief executives of food industry companies American entertainment industry businesspeople American businesspeople in real estate American restaurateurs Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Businesspeople from New York City Fast-food chain founders People from East Harlem 20th-century African-American people