By Howard Koplowitz
The city Parks Department is reviewing proposals submitted by potential bidders who hope to run the Forest Park carousel after the previous concessionaire decided not to renew its contract to operate the borough attraction, an agency spokeswoman said Monday.
Parks spokeswoman Trish Bertuccio said the agency hopes to select a winning bid in the next two or three months.
She declined to comment further because the bidding process is competitive.
The carousel’s wood frame was built in 1890 and its animals were carved in 1903, according to the Parks Department.
At the time it was built, the carousel was used in Dracut, Mass., before it was brought to Queens in 1972. Forest Park’s original carousel, crafted by William Dentzel, burned down in 1966.
The new carousel was crafted by Daniel Carl Muller, a German immigrant who settled in Philadelphia in the 1880s and started his own carousel company.
D.C. Muller and Brother Co. worked on the carousel with Dentzel, who constructed the frame.
The Forest Park Carousel is one of only two made by Muller that are still used.
The carousel underwent a restoration in 1985 before it fell into disrepair, which was followed by a renovation in 1988 before it reopened in 1989.
The carousel’s animals include 49 horses, a lion, a tiger, a deer and two chariots.
New York One, the carousel’s previous concessionaire, let its contract to run the structure expire, Bertuccio said.
Greater Woodhaven Development Corp. President Maria Thomson said New York One did not make the carousel accessible by failing to post the hours it was open.
“It was unfortunate because they had such an opportunity to make it profitable and available to everyone,” Thomson said. “We would’ve hoped that we would have gotten a better vendor for it.”
Memorial Day weekend marked the first time in nearly 20 years that the carousel was not running during the holiday. It is unclear whether the carousel will be open in time for the July 4 weekend.
Thomson said the carousel is busiest when there is warm weather and lamented that it is not open.
“They’re going to miss the whole summer,” she said. “The whole feature of that park is the carousel. It’s a beautiful feature and it can’t be replaced.”
Forest Park is one of four parks in the city, including Flushing Meadows−Corona Park, to have a carousel. The others are Central Park and Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e−mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 173.
