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Nunley's (later called Smiley's) Happyland was an amusement park in the hamlet of Bethpage on Long Island, New York, located at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike (Route 24) and Hicksville Road (Route 107). It operated from 1951 through 1970s.
- There Was Once An Amusement Park Here: NYC Edition
- William Nunley Kickstarts The Trend
- Treasure Island: Adapting The Nunley Model
- Queens' Fairyland
- Adventurer's Inn
- NYC Condems Adventurer's Inn
- Amusement Park Variation: Roadside Kiddie Parks
- The Number of Parks Remains Unclear
- Kiddie Land
- Fairyland Kiddie Park
As the automobile became increasingly popular, a new breed of amusement park also came: the roadside attraction. While the first amusement parks were built as destinations, likely how you think of places like Disneyland and Universal Studios today, the roadside attraction was designed to be just a stop along one's journey. Another example is the Co...
In New York, the trend began with amusement entrepreneur William Nunley, who co-owned the carousel at Golden City amusement park. When Robert Moses, the influential NYC urban planner, began eminent domain proceedings against the park, Nunley had the carousel and its building moved to the town of Baldwin on Long Island. Nunely wanted to take advanta...
The Nunley model was so successful that during the 1950s, others began building their own versions. Treasure Island Restaurant & Arcade and its adjoining amusement park, Kiddy City, was built in Douglaston on an undeveloped stretch of Northern Blvd, across the street from Alley Pond Park. Opening in 1955, the park was 25 acres and included both adu...
Another park, Fairyland in Queens, became a victim of the city two times over. Built on Horace Harding Blvd in Elmhurst, Queens, in 1949, it began as a restaurant and small kiddie park. However, only one year after opening, the city condemned the property so that Horace Harding Blvd could be widened and turned into the Long Island Expressway. The o...
But the most beloved of the restaurant parks was Adventurer's Inn, located in College Point on the edge of the now-decommissioned Flushing Airport. It began as a themed restaurant in 1950 with an adjoining mini-golf course, expanded to include kiddie rides, and eventually included many adult rides. The amusement park's official name was Grate Adven...
Claims say that residents of Flushing complained about the park, and Adventurer's Inn spent the 1970s harassed by city officials responding to those alleged complaints. Still, the park defiantly remained open. In 1978, the city claimed they needed the property to build an industrial park and promptly rezoned it. They used the new zoning to condemn ...
Not every roadside amusement park was built in conjunction with a restaurant. It should be noted that the first children of the post-World War II Baby Boom were reaching their kindergarten years by the early 1950s. Millions of young children were suddenly driven around by their parents, many of whom had nothing to do on road trips other than look o...
Some accounts have anywhere from 15 to 20 kiddie parks within the New York City borders. However, when writing this article, I could only confirm that seven of these actually existed. Two of them were the aforementioned McCullough's in Coney Island and the still-operating Deno's Kiddie Park, which is owned by the same family that owns the nearby Wo...
In 1950, Max Gruberg opened Kiddie Land on Horace Harding Blvd and 174 Street. He sold that park a year later to another amusement park company, perhaps after learning the city had taken Fairyland four miles down the road. Horace Harding Blvd was being widened and converted into the Long Island Expressway, a project of, you guessed it, Robert Moses...
But while Moses did his best to eliminate any amusement park he could, some were built in areas the city had no plans to develop or along roads that were already widened by the city years before. The ones he missed lived on for decades. Fairyland Kiddie Park, which opened at the intersection of Utica and Flatbush Avenue in 1952, lasted until 2002 w...
Adventureland is an amusement park in East Farmingdale, New York, located on Route 110 (Broad Hollow Road). Adventureland has been Long Island's main amusement park since 1962. There are a total of twenty eight rides, two of which are roller coasters and three are water rides.
"Golden Slumbers" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album Abbey Road. Written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, [2] [3] it is the sixth song of the album's climactic B-side medley. The song is followed by "Carry That Weight" and begins the progression that leads to the end of the album.
Provided to YouTube by Epic/LegacyGolden Slumbers (Live at Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY - December 2001) · Ben FoldsVault Volume II (1998-2003)℗ 2011 Sony M...
Aug 2, 2022 · Here are Long Islanders’ memories of 10 parks that once offered a few hour’s escape from work and school. Nunley’s Amusement Park Where it was. Sunrise Highway, Baldwin. Attractions....
Jul 10, 2013 · Coney Island is known as New York's epicenter for summer thrills and stomach-dropping rides, but there was a time when every borough had an amusement park (or three) to call its own. We...
