When the Forest Park Carousel stopped spinning in 2008, it nevertheless continued its merry-go-round cycle that had become all too familiar over its history.
For decades, the carousel stood continuously in Forest Park as one of the many jewels of the 543-acre greenspace with locals and visitors flocking to the attraction each spring and summer.
“My cousin used to come from Brooklyn to take me to the carousel,” said Leonora Lavan, former president of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society, of the ride that only cost a nickel when she rode it in the 40s. “I had a favorite horse; I used to wait until it was free to get on.”
During the summers in the late 1940s, St. John’s journalism professor Frank Brady was the guardian of the famed merry-go-round. Brady operated the carousel, remembering the festive, carnival-like atmosphere.
“On a really nice Saturday or Sunday the place was packed. Sometimes we couldn’t even accommodate all the kids,” Brady, 78, remembered. “Every pony was taken.”
The carousel’s music, Johann Strauss waltzes, stuck with him through the decades, transporting him back to his days as operator.
“The music was always the big thing,” said Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society.
The music stopped in late 1966 when a fire tore through the ride, leaving behind only ashes.
“The fire started at 8:40 p.m. and was fought by 67 firemen using 26 pieces of fire apparatus, according to the Fire Department, and totally destroyed the carousel,” reported a 1966 article in the Long Island Daily Press.
The article said the carousel had been “a landmark for 50 years,” though an exact date of its opening in the park could not be confirmed.
“After the carousel burnt down, I remember my father taking me up there and seeing the ashes,” Wendell recalled.
Six years passed with no carousel replacing the original.
A Daniel C. Muller-carved carousel that formerly spun at Lakeview Park in Dracut, Massachusetts was on sale in the early 1970s. For $30,000, according to a 1972 Daily News article, Forest Park got a new carousel.
“[The carousel] was in an interesting little park at the end of a dead-end road in nowhere Massachusetts,” said Roland Hopkins, editor of The Carousel News & Trader magazine, a monthly based in California for carousel enthusiasts.
“Muller was one of the special ones for sure; he had a distinct style,” Hopkins said. “He was a master of strong military horses — strong, but not intimidating.”
Only two of the master carver’s carousels remain in the country; Forest Park and the Midway Carousel in Sandusky, Ohio.
The park’s new carousel was built in 1903 and featured a menagerie of hand carved wooden animals.
Everyone was delighted when they brought a carousel back, Wendell said, but barely a decade passed before it again was shuttered.
It fell into disrepair after closing in 1985.
“It really hasn’t had a good history since they brought the new one in. It’s had a history of being neglected,” said Wendell, who also heads the Woodhaven Residents Block Association.
Mary Ann Carey, district manager of Community Board 9, and members of the board began to lobby for the piece of Queens history to be restored.
New operators were secured, the ride was restored and a new era was set to begin.
City dignitaries, including then-Mayor Ed Koch, attended the carousel’s 1989 grand re-opening.
Eager to enjoy the first trip on the carousel, the crowd rushed to get on.
It didn’t move.
“I guess it was the weight of all the people,” laughed Carey.
A minor tweak, and the carousel was up and running again after a four-year absence.
For the next two decades, the carousel ran with relatively few problems.
In 2008, New York One, the carousel vendor, did not renew its contract, setting off another stagnant era for the ride.
While the carousel has stood still, local officials and residents have worked behind the scenes to get the historic ride spinning again.
Facebook groups were started, T-shirts were sold and four Requests for Proposals were issued.
Good news was received in March when the Parks Department announced a new vendor was chosen and the ride would be ready by spring.
But as March and April passed, even the staunchest supporters thought another year would pass with no carousel.
Fears were erased when the Parks Department announced New York Carousel Entertainment would operate the carousel and the public would once again be able to enjoy the attraction beginning Memorial Day weekend.
“We hope now people are more appreciative. We’ve come close to losing it before,” said Wendell.
Even from across the country, carousel enthusiasts realize the attraction of the Forest Park ride.
“You guys have a nice machine there. I hope these guys pay attention,” said Hopkins. “It will be great to have it up and running; it’s a great machine.”
A new era will begin on Saturday, May 26 at 11 a.m.
