BEAT
I HAVE OFTEN WALKED
SPORTS
Kiddie Park was funn central
A strange roll of the dice
by Ron Marzlock Chronicle Contributor
Queens children were in for a treat when Max Gruberg, a well-known Philadelphia carnival operator, purchased a piece of land abutting what was then Horace Harding Boulevard at 174th Street, close to Saint Mary’s Kiddie Park in Fresh Meadows, as it appeared on a postcard Cemetery. The plan was to that doubled as a coupon. build an amusement park. Business continued to grow. Then sudGruberg had successfully opened a similar fun spot in Long Beach, LI a few years earli- denly bad news came when the government er and saw the need for the expanding popu- announced it was taking the property under the eminent domain law to build the Long lation of Fresh Meadows to be entertained. On March 15, 1950 he opened Kiddie Island Expressway. Sadowski and Seyman Park at 174-15 Horace Harding Blvd., offer- had a deadline to vacate the property by July ing free admission, nine great rides, a clown, 3, 1955 and favorite rides like their Roto refreshments and souvenirs. Six rides cost Whip, Jet Rocket and merry-go-round were 50 cents. With a special postcard you got quickly sold at discount prices. After the expressway was completed the three more for free. Kiddie Park was a big property was excessed and resold. Philips hit with the little baby boomers of the area. After a few years Gruberg sold the park Medical Systems occupied the site for sevto Frank Sadowski and Albert Seyman, who eral years. More recently a rival newspaper, operated the Dreamland fun park on Hillside the Queens Tribune, was there, but it has Q since moved to Whitestone. Avenue in Brooklyn.
by Lloyd Carroll Chronicle Contributor
When word leaked out last week that the Mets were hoping to be part of a syndicate to build a casino in Willets Point in a plan presented to Mayor Bloomberg in 2011, my immediate reaction was “What the hell were these guys thinking?” Two years ago, the Mets were in the midst of the fallout from the Bernie Madoff scandal. Madoff Securities victims’ trustee Irving Picard had his sights set on collecting hundreds of millions from their owners as restitution. The team’s cash flow, not to mention its image, were, and in many ways still are, in deep trouble. It was the epitome of chutzpah on the Mets’ part to expect any governmental authority to grant them permission to build a casino. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig must have felt betrayed when he heard the news that Mets CEO Fred Wilpon had desires of becoming the Steve Wynn of Flushing. Selig has long been one of Wilpon’s strongest allies, even during the darkest days of the Madoff scandal. He gave the Mets the 2013 All-Star Game as a token of that friendship. Selig, like all of his predecessors, has viewed the gaming industry as an anathema. His refusal to consider reinstating Pete Rose for betting on baseball is a clear example. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has long
been a proponent of allowing bettors to wager on sporting events and has vowed to use the court system to make that happen. If Christie were to prevail, then all casinos could have sports books. Currently, you can only bet on college and professional sports in Nevada. It would be obviously embarrassing for Bud if an MLB team owner was connected to a casino where patrons could bet on America’s pastime. What might make sense for a racetrack doesn’t for baseball. Having a casino a stone’s throw away from a baseball stadium is clearly at odds with the wholesome family image that professional baseball has cultivated for well over a century. Mets first baseman Ike Davis, Yankees ace CC Sabathia, and Yankees relief pitcher David Phelps were among the honorees at the 33rd annual Thurman Munson Dinner, which benefits AHRC, a nonprofit organization that helps the lives of the mentally disabled of all ages. Davis laughingly apologized to the press for the miserable first two months of the 2012 season, when he batted .150. He had missed a good chunk of the 2011 season with an ankle injury, and his bad luck continued in 2012 when the Arizona resident contracted valley fever. He said that he did not take any special precautions during this off-season and claimed that his body Q now has immunity against the disease.
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QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, February 14, 2013 Page 54
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