New Yorkers To Sample French Rides, Amusements Of Old

@AFP
New Yorkers To Sample French Rides, Amusements Of Old

NEW YORK (AFP) – New Yorkers, said to always embrace the next new thing, will have a chance this summer to sample rides and amusements enjoyed by fun seekers a century ago.

Beginning this weekend and running through September 29, the inaugural Fete Paradiso fair will recreate the festival from a long bygone era. These include such attractions as a vintage French bicycle carousel and a meticulously restored pipe organ.

The first fair takes place on New York’s Governor’s Island this Saturday — one day before France’s Bastille Day national holiday — and features a dozen rides and attractions popular from around 1850 to 1950.

The antique attractions belong to two avid collectors of French fairground arts.

French native Francis Staub made his fortune manufacturing cast iron casserole pots that bear his name.

The other collector, Regis Masclet, was a successful advertising executive in Rennes who now spends his time restoring antique rides.

“These are all collectors’ items,” Masclet told AFP.

“For example, we have a rare ride — a velocipede — which runs by pedaling. It was built in the late 19th century to promote cycling, at the time horses disappeared from cities,” he explained.

Masclet and Staub launched the idea for their antique fun fair 18 months ago, presenting it to various cities around the world, among them Berlin and London, but New York agreed to it first.

Organizers said other cities around the United States are likely to follow suit.

“We would like to continue the tour on the west coast and back to New York if it works,” said Tristan Duval, who heads Community, a French organization dedicated to promoting tourism and the arts, which is staging the event.

Fete Paradiso also will feature carnival-style foods provided by the bistro Le Gamin, organizers said.

Duval said he is not expecting to make a profit on the New York fair, but hopes that word of mouth will help make it a popular at future venues where it is mounted.

The festival is part of a sweeping effort rehabilitate Governor’s Island, a former military base of 70 acres located off the southern tip of Manhattan, accessible to the public only on weekends, and then, only by ferry.

The New York mayor’s office — known for its activism in supporting the arts — took over management of the Governor’s Island in 2010, and has a plan to to invest 250 million dollars in the massive renovation project.

Several festivals and artistic events have been organized in the refurbished park.

Photo Credit: AFP/Timothy Clary

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

How A Stuttering President Confronts A Right-Wing Bully

Donald Trump mocks Joe Biden’s stutter,” the headlines blare, and I am confronted (again) with (more) proof that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee hates people like me.

Keep reading...Show less
Trump at Trump Tower

Former President Donald Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan

NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a bond to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment or face the risk of New York state seizing some of his marquee properties.Trump, seeking to regain the presidency this year, must either pay the money out of his own pocket or post a bond while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron's February 16 judgment against him for manipulating his net worth and his family real estate company's property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}