FOREST PARK CAROUSEL: 1966 - 1972
FOREST PARK CAROUSEL: 1966 - 1972
Here are some articles that come to Project Woodhaven courtesy of Lisa Colangelo of the NY Daily News. These articles, written between 1966 and 1972 describe what happened to the carousel -- and gives us a glimpse at the long road it took to get back.
Forest Park Carousel Burned - On December 10th 1966, a fire was set in Forest Park and a beloved carousel was destroyed.
Carousel Question Answered - By the next summer, people began to wonder what was going to happen there. This was the first inkling that there were plans to rebuild.
February Ground Breaking Planned - By the end of 1967, plans were in place to begin construction on a new building to house a carousel. The original plans included a mini-railroad!
New Carousel To Turn in Forest Park - A few years have passed and it appears that progress has stalled a bit -- but in this piece from the Leader-Observer, Assemblyman Frederick D. Schmidt gets the residents some answers on what's going on. He also addresses some of the issues that residents of Woodhaven were facing in 1970.
Vintage Carousel Forest Park - By early 1972, we were getting closer to having our carousel back. This article gives some details on the purchase of an existing carousel to be housed in the new building.
Schmidt Wants Cops Around The Carousel - With the carousel poised to open, safety is an issue and crime was so bad around here that there was consideration to make Forest Park its own police precinct. A man was stabbed to death at the bandshell, and the old carousel had been torched by the wild vandals that used to frequent the park. Includes a cool picture of the partially constructed carousel building.
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