Dumbo (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass), Brooklyn, is a charming artist’s community with breathtaking views of Lower Manhattan, gourmet cafes, restaurants, delis…AND, it’s very own carousel. Historic, beautifully restored and open year-’round under a fiberglass atrium, this carousel will delight riders both young and old.
Hop on! The ride’s cheap at 2 dollars…
Although with so many beauties, you might find choosing your horse to be tricky. You could ride this spirited stallion…
This gentler horse with the green and red bridle…
The brown mare…
Or, perhaps go into battle on this heavily armored beast.
You’ll gallop by vistas of the Manhattan bridge…
To the tuneful strains of the calliope…
While lively painted scenes go by on the walls…
And butterflies flit about on the ceiling.
I noticed this little rider was holding on tight…
But this one was obviously a veteran!
When I got off, an artist from the League Education and Treatment Center showed me his illustration and asked me to take a photograph of it…
Which I was only too happy to do!
One ride on the carousel, though, wasn’t enough for me, so I went again!
Joana, They have restored the one at Seabreeze in Rochester. My mother rode it when she was a child. She and my father went back to see it recently! I have a horse from a child’s rocking horse which I have been painting as though it’s a carousel horse. I’ve not made much progress lately. Too busy painting small tables. As always, thanks for the blog. I love reading them!
Hi Pam,
Thanks so much for writing! I never went to Seabreeze in Rochester…too bad. Jane’s Carousel, the one I rode in Dumbo today, is originally from Youngstown, Ohio. I went with my friends Tom and Don and another friend of theirs who is big into carousels. In fact, she has two carousel horses in her NY studio, I believe. She told me that many of the carousels have been dismantled and sold piece-meal since original carved wooden horses (like the ones we “rode” today) can fetch 100K each.
Now I’m curious to visit the carousel in Central Park. I’ve walked by, but never really gotten close enough to get a good look.
How is the jewelry making coming? Are you still selling at fairs?
Ciao – Joana
ooh I wanna go there, too….
Yes, ANOTHER place we are putting on “our” list.
Love, J
Olá Joana,
Wow! A really old-fashioned carousel, yet so brand new.
Very well restored. Já fui ler a notícia que está no teu link.
I thought that even in US it was only possible to find it in the movies.
I think I could easily fill an 8GB card only with pictures of this carousel.
What do I have to do for you to send me two “magic rectangles” such as those in the first photo? 🙂
To put them around these ones:
http://www.pedronogueiraphotography.com/#/gallery/just-for-fun/mg-0148/
Ciao,
Pedro
Ola Pedro,
For some reason, my blog server didn’t alert me to your message. I bet you would take gorgeous photos of the carousel! I’d be happy to send you whatever you’d like, but wasn’t sure what you were referring to when you mentioned the “magic rectangles.” I did give those two used tickets to a friend who is “gaga” (maluca) for carousels. (I kept the gold 1$ coins though.) Were you referring to the tickets?
I liked seeing the little boneco from the Oceanario em Lisboa on your website! I’ll try and send you a picture link on Etsy from when I was there:-)
It’s turned mais frio aqui agora, but that’s good because I’m in the mood to wear warmer clothes these days.
Ciao –
Joana
Hi, Joana,
Yes I meant to tickets. I found them gorgeous 🙂
Can I send you the money and you buy me two as the ones on your picture?
O boneco do Oceanário chama-se Vasco, em homenagem ao navegador português Vasco da Gama.
É a mascote do Oceanário.
It gets colder here too.
Ciao
Pedro
Ola Pedro,
Sim, I’ll be happy to send you duas billhetes as soon as I go back to the carousel. I think my mom wants to go with me, so when she next visits (probably late Oct.) I’ll be happy to get you the tickets…no need to send me any money, though!:-) By the way, my friend Tom, who also has a blog, did a post about our trip to the carousel. You can see his photos here:
http://tomseyeview.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/janes-carousel-in-dumbo/
I thought the mascot at the Oceanario was called Gil. I looked through my fotografias de Lisboa just now and found the two where I’m standing next to the mascot. I’d scan and send them, but they are a little blurry. On the subject of Portugal and things Portuguese, I went to a party in Harlem recently at the house of a Portuguese designer/artist named Luis da Cruz. He is turning his house into an art gallery of sorts. My friend Tom was there taking snapshots and you can see them here. Tom also got me to pose with a handsome guest at the party and told us to look like we knew each other (we didn’t):
http://tomseyeview.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/a-house-museum-opens-in-harlem/
Enjoy the fall weather.
Ciao!
Joana
Hi Joana,
Thank you so much. It’s very kind of you.
Hey, you look great on that photo at Jane’s Carrousel. Estavas mesmo a divertir-te.
The House Museum looks great. Interesting work.
Thanks for sharing.
About the mascots.
Gil was the Expo 98’s mascot http://galenfrysinger.name/eh69/expo13.jpg and Vasco is the Oceanário’s mascot http://www.oceanario.pt/layout/img/cms/vasco.jpg
Ciao
Pedro
Ola Pedro,
Thanks for the email and for the explanation about “Gil” and “Vasco.” I remember making a mental note about the “Gil” mascot since that is o nom do meu pai. Mas tambem tenho um primo chamado Vasco….e mais outros que se chamao Duarte, Francisco, Goncalo, Fernando, Daniel, Dinis, Filipe e Tiago. I hope they continue to name the mascots after the men in my family;-)
I’m hoping to get back to Jane’s Carousel in the last week of October. I’ll let you know as soon as I have the tickets for you.
Ciao –
Joana
Hi Joana,
There’s one on the mall in D.C., too. Check out the photos: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/photos/53047687.html?c=y&page=1
When you’re here next, you’ll have to ride it!
M
Hi Marta,
Thanks for your message and for subscribing to my blog! I’m going to check out the link you sent for the carousel in D.C. The one we rode is originally from Ashtabula, OH. Apparently, Jewish cabinet makers who came over from the old country often found themselves lacking work here, so they turned to carving carousel horses. It was a point of pride to make the carving as fantastic as possible. On my first ride, I chose an outside horse and was disappointed because it just “stood” there and didn’t go up and down on its pole. Then I learned that all of the outside ring of horses are called the “standers” and they are the “show” horses for the carousel. The middle ring horses are the “leapers” or “jumpers,” and the inner ring horses (usually the smallest) were designed for children. I did a second ride because I wanted to go on a leaper:-)
Love,
J