Friday, May 12, 2006

The end of an era-Beachland Closes


Yes, it's true, the owners finally gave in to offers from real estate developers. The beachland amusement arcade on sand Lane is closing after 56 years. It was the last remnant of an era long-forgotten on S.I.

I remember being very young and even before moving here from Bklyn. in 1969, I used to love to come visit my Aunt Rosie, whom lived on Sand Lane...about 1 block from the amusement areas. There were two arcades, a kiddie park with lots of rides, a ferris wheel, a spook house, lotsa junk food...and shitloads more! It was mega-cool, especially for a 10-year-old! I used to make our family greetings, and after about 15 minutes would be begging my mom and aunt to let us go across the street to the arcades and rides and stuff. Well, that's all gone now. Everything's been closed/demolished/razed/built-over/town-housed/homogenized to the point where the neighborhood is unrecognizable from what it used to be. (must be a real shocker to any visiting former residents of the area to return and see this debacle)...the only thing that stayed the same was SBA.
The last bastion of the old-school amusement attractions was the South Beach Arcade ("SBA", or "beachland") which survived/resisted all of the above-listed abominations to this day. They are closing forever on the 4th of June. The equipment is going to the auction block on June 13th.
It's a very sad day on S.I.
As a regular there (and many other arcades in the tri-state area) on and off for 30-something years, I can attest to the fact that SBA were the last of a dying breed. Sure half of the vintage 80's games were broke, but at least they HAD them! Trying to find these games today is a true rarity. Just finding a place with more than one pinball machine is tough. SBA had 7. They also had the last of the old-style Skee-Ball machines...you know, the ones with the funky sounds & wood balls? Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Centipede....Jeez, there's even a few of those "Pokerino" units there! It's a real trip back in time, I gotta tell 'ya. The original prizes for coupon redemption are mostly still on the walls and in the cases. Image saving up and redeeming all those tickets for a color TV set!...only it's from the late 70's & has knobs on the front. The place was off the kitsch factor scale.
And I for one, will miss it sorely.