Jane's Carousel (formerly Idora Park Merry-Go-Round) is a carved wooden 48-horse

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in SA) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular pla ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, New York City, built in 1922 by the

Philadelphia Toboggan Company Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry Auchey and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia ...

(PTC) for the

Idora Park Idora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. It was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement ...

amusement park in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

. It was carved by John Zalar and Frank Carretta, each of whom are attributed with carvings on carousels constructed by PTC and other carousel companies like Looff. The carousel has 30 "jumpers," 18 "standers," two chariots, and a Gebrüder Bruder

Band Organ A fairground organ (french: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in Paris, France, it was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud music ...

that provides the carousel’s music. Jane's Carousel was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

(NRHP) on February 6, 1975, the first carousel to receive such designation.http://janescarousel.com/ The merry-go-round is not currently listed in the NRHP database, having been delisted (having its listing status changed to "RN") on October 29, 1985.The listing status change is reported within the downloadable version of the NRIS database. It should appear also in the printe
NRHP listings, 1985
but is not readily found there. When Idora Park closed to the public in 1984, the carousel was bought at auction by Jane and

David Walentas David Walentas (born 1938) is an American billionaire real estate developer. Early life and education Walentas was born in Rochester, New York. His father was of Lithuanian descent. When he was five, his postal worker father suffered a stroke ...

and moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, for restoration. It was opened to the public at its new location in

Brooklyn Bridge Park Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, unde ...

on the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Que ...

in Brooklyn on September 16, 2011. The building commissioned by the Walentas to house the carousel was designed by the French architect

Jean Nouvel Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and '' Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has o ...

History

The wooden merry-go-round (or carousel), which was built by the

in 1922, features 48 carved horses attributed to John Zalar and Frank Carretta. The manufacturer designated it PTC #61. The carousel had operated for many years at

in Youngstown, Ohio until a fire at the park prompted the owners to decide to put the carousel up for sale. At Idora's 1984 auction, the carousel was sold for $385,000 to

, a real estate developer, and Jane Walentas, a former art director for Estee Lauder. The auction was described by local Mickey Rindin to Vince Guerrieri in ''The New Colonist'':

First, bids were taken on each individual horse. Then, when each individual horse had a sale price, bids were taken for the whole carousel. The opening bid was the sum of the price for all the horses plus ten percent, which came to $385,000. A buyer was found, and a great cry went up from the crowd because the horses would stay together. 'They didn't want it to leave one horse at a time,' Rindin said.

Originally, the carousel was supposed to be located in a waterfront development at

Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn Fulton Ferry is a small area adjacent to Dumbo in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is named for the Fulton Ferry, a prominent ferry line that crossed the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and is also the name of t ...

, created by David Walentas; however, the development was canceled in 1999. The Walentases restored the merry-go-round over the ensuing 22 years, the culmination of which was revealed on October 13, 2006, when it was rechristened "Jane's Carousel." Jane Walentas made it known that she wanted the carousel to be given a permanent place in

, going so far as to pay a $500,000 fee for a pavilion to house it designed by

Pritzker Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...

-winning architect

. Opinions differed at the time on whether the master plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park (which abuts

Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, unde ...

and borders the

) could accommodate the carousel. On September 16, 2011, after 27 years of extensive renovation, Jane's Carousel opened in its new home in Brooklyn Bridge Park at 65 Water Street in Brooklyn. In October 2012, the carousel suffered minor water damage due to

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds span ...

, and the ride reopened a few months later.

Gallery

File:Jane's Carousel 2019 (Manhattan Bridge in background).jpg, View towards Manhattan Bridge, 2019 File:Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan skyline 142956793.jpg, View towards Manhattan from the northern end of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Jane's Carousel is just below the bridge. File:Brooklyn Bridge at Night (13303537933).jpg, Carousel and Brooklyn Bridge at night File:Janes gray jumper BB jeh.jpg, Jumper in Brooklyn File:Janes Carousel glass house MB jeh.jpg, Brooklyn building File:Brooklyn Bridge Carousel.jpg, Another view of the carousel

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Janes Carousel 1922 establishments in Ohio 2011 establishments in New York City Amusement rides introduced in 1922 Amusement rides introduced in 2011 Brooklyn Bridge Park Carousels in New York (state) Entertainment venues in Brooklyn Former National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters carousels