Stanley Fox, Part 2

On a sunny day in January on the Boardwalk, Stanley Fox, whose family operated arcades in Coney Island from 1949 through 1981, recalls the names of  businesses that were open in the winter back in the day: The Oceanside, Playland, Stauch's and Faber's arcades; Jerry's Knishes, Shatzkin's Knishes, Shiffrin's Hebrew National and Nathan's; ball games, cat racks and balloon games on the Bowery; and kiddie rides at Ward's, Jack's and Feltman's. "It's amazing because they wanted to make it year round," he says, referring to the 2009 rezoning aimed at making Coney Island into a year-round destination, "and it's less year round than it was in those days." One of the reasons for the lack of amusements in the winter is the high cost of rent, labor and electric today, Stan says. "If we opened up and took in 100 bucks we had a few dollars, now you'd be losing money."