I came across this interesting museum/gallery when I was walking around Coney Island. The museum is a few small rooms located in one of the buildings in Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. The museum is not related to the Coney Island Museum on Surf Avenue.
The small gallery space has a wealth of information and some interesting artifacts on Coney Island’s history both past and present.
The main room had artifacts and pictures of Coney Island’s past amusement history. There were many photo’s of the old parks, especially Steeplechase Park before its closing in 1965. It shows its development, growth and changes after the 1907 fire that destroyed the park.
There was all sorts of artifacts from that time as well as the former Astroland that was replaced by the new Luna Park. If you know the history of Coney Island, this can fascinating to read.
The second room had the later history when the Island’s amusements fell into disrepair and the whole island seemed to fall apart. The pictures show a very run down Coney Island.
The outside pictures show Coney Island in its heyday when during the 1930’s and 40’s before and during WWII, the island being a place of relief for so many New Yorker’s especially the working class.
The inside of the gallery
The main gallery
The Steeplechase Exhibition
Coney Island in ruin in the 1970’s
The history of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park
The display outside the museum
The mechanical display that sings and dances
The Miss Coney Island robot is a throwback to old technology and campy robotics that is fun to watch. For a quarter, you can take an interesting video with this robot.
The Deno’s Map of the park
The history of the park
The History of the Museum:
(From the Coney Island Historical Coalition website)
The Coney Island History Project’s 2025 exhibition center season begins Memorial Day Weekend with a combination of free indoor and outdoor exhibits. Visitors to the exhibition center are invited to take free souvenir photos with Coney Island’s only original Steeplechase horse, from the legendary ride that gave Steeplechase Park its name, and the iconic Cyclops head from Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park’s Spook-A-Rama, Coney Island’s oldest dark ride.
The real Midway
I took pictures after the Mermaid Parade and showed how busy the amusement section was that day. There is so much potential to update the amusements and modernize the area with new rides and concessions. There is so much that can be done here. I already see new luxury apartment buildings being built and the revamping of the main shopping drag.
The Prospect Park Zoo is one of my ‘go to’ places along with the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden when visiting Brooklyn. The three popular destinations are all in the same neighborhood and if you have a full day is worth the subway ride from Manhattan to visit.
On a nice day, the best place to start is the Brooklyn Botanical Garden at opening, then head over through the back part of the garden to Prospect Park and walk to the entrance near Flatbush Avenue and go past the carousel and enter the Zoo past the old Leffert’s Homestead. The Zoo is just past that.
The best part of the Prospect Park Zoo is that like the Central Park Zoo it is small enough to see in one day and be able to enjoy the exhibitions in one afternoon and still have time for lunch.
The Map of the Zoo
The Zoo has gone through a lot of improvements since COVID and reopened. There is a unique sculpture garden when you walk inside.
The Prospect Park Zoo Sculpture Garden at the entrance
Fish Sculptures at the entrance
The sculptures at the entrance of the zoo by artist Mags Harries
Artist Mags Harries is an Wales born artist who graduated the Leicester College of Art with a Diploma in Art and Design and Illinois University, Carbondale with a Master of Fine Arts. She is known for her creative sculptures and their use in enhancing public spaces (Artist bio/Tufts.edu).
The main focus of the zoo when you walk through the gates is the seal tanks. These playful animals spend most of their time swimming around or sunning themselves on a warm day. During the feeding schedule, it is interesting to see how they interact with the trainers.
The Seal Tanks at the entrance of the Zoo
The Seal tanks when you walk in are very active
Walking further into the zoo you will walk past the Hall of Animals, where all the smaller animals and amphibians like frogs, snakes and turtles are located. These are a lot of fun for the smaller children who may not see these things in their backyards or even in the parks anymore.
The rare Longnecked Turtle in the Small Animals exhibition
The Fish tank at the Small Animals exhibition
The catfish in the Fish Tank at the Small Animals exhibition
I went to the Bird Cages and saw a Kookaburra bird from Australia. He looked at me like I looked at him. He had the most inquisitive look on his face.
The Kookaburra looking at me
The Kookaburra looking around the cage
The Victorian Pigeons with their beautiful colors and feathers
The tropical hornbill birds
As I sat down to rest after visiting both the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a peacock walked past me looking for food. It must be very used to humans because he just ignored me and kept on walking.
The peacock at the zoo just does his own thing
Beyond that is the Barn, where your horses and cows are located and they even have a pair of turkeys, which makes for interesting conversation for children who wonder where they come from at Thanksgiving. The turkeys here are more bred than the wild ones you will see in the woods. They also have sheep, pigs and lambs that you can feed.
The gardens leading to the Barn area
The gardens leading to the Barn area
The different barnyard animals were in the process of being feed and taken care of by their trainers. If you put food in front of them though, they cam running. The kids were having a ball feeding them snacks.
The Barn pens at the zoo
Lambs and calf’s in the Barnyard at the zoo
The lambs hoping they would be fed by the visitors
The friendly lamb in the pens
The sheep at the barnyard
The animal sculptures just outside the Barnyard display
Next to the Hall of Animals is the Animal Lifestyle exhibition where a lot of the gorillas and monkeys are located. It is funny to watch their mannerisms and see ourselves and out behaviors in them. I guess a couple of thousand years never really separated us that much and we still are a lot alike.
The Baboons at the Hall of Animals
From there you will take the Discovery Trail to see more familiar animals that you might see in every day nature such as deer, foxes, porcupines, ducks and geese in a more natural habitat where they can roam free. The space is limited but they look a lot happy to move around than some of the other animals.
The swans on the Discovery Trail
The swans on the trail
All trails lead back to the Seal Tanks where the popular feeding time gathers a crowd and you will see the care that many of the trainers and zoo keepers give to their residents. There is a lot of love for these animals that is given and I can see a lot of respect.
Relaxing by the Seal Tanks
I got to sit and relax by the Seal Tanks and just enjoy the afternoon. The landscaping around the main Seal Tanks were in full bloom. I also never noticed the statuary around the pool.
The landscaped stairs leading to the zoo from the main road
‘Lioness and Cubs’ by French sculptor Victor Peter
Artist Victor Peter is a French born artist known for his realistic sculptures.
A trip to the snack shop and gift shops at the zoo are expensive and cater to the tourists. They are not as nicely merchandised as the Bronx Zoo or the Central Park Zoo. Still they are fun to visit once or twice.
The Prospect Park Zoo is still a nice afternoon out for families and a nice way to communicate with nature.
The History of the Prospect Park Zoo:
The Prospect Park Zoo is a 12 acre zoo located in Prospect Park, Brooklyn and as of 2016 houses 864 animals. The zoo was originally part of the plan of Prospect Park as a “Zoological Garden” in the western part of the park. The zoo was not part of the finished plan in the park in 1874 by designers Fredrick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.
The original zoo layout
The park design included a Wild Fowl Pond in the northern part of the park that was stop off for water birds and a Deer Paddock in the southern part of the zoo where deer lived in a penned area.
In the 1890’s, gardens were created for park enjoyment and a informal Menagerie was created by the Brooklyn Parks Commission, George V. Brower, when the donation of small bear, white deer, seven seals, a cow and twelve peacocks came into the possession of the park.
In 1934, Parks Department head Robert Moses set a plan to reconstruct the City’s Parks and under the Works Progress Administration started to revamp the park system. In March of that year architect Aymar Embury II set to design the new zoo with six new buildings and centered by a Seal Pool.
By the 1970’s, the zoo faced disrepair and was neglect for the animals. It was considered one of the worst zoo’s in the country according to the press and finally in 1980, the Koch Administration signed a 50 year agreement with the NY Zoological Society, now called the Wildlife Conservation Society, which was also administrating the Central Park and Queens Zoo.
The park closed in 1988 for a five year, 37 million dollar renovation that gutted all the pits and cages but saved the historic buildings and statuary. The new zoo opened in 1993 with a new name, “The Prospect Park Wildlife Conservation Center” and a philosophy of educating children. The zoo along with the Queens Zoo have had some shortfalls in the past but have the full support of the Society and the public since the early 2000’s. Still the zoo remains popular with families from all over Brooklyn and the world.
The main view of the zoo
(This information is provided by Wiki and the Wildlife Conservatory website and I give them both full credit for the information)
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 