BP MARKOWITZ, DIVE TEAM RING IN BOROUGH HALL EXHIBIT OF HISTORIC 1911 CONEY ISLAND DREAMLAND
On Tuesday, October 6, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and members of the dive team that discovered and salvaged the historic Dreamland Bell from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean off Coney Island gathered with the Coney Island History Project to ring the bell and announce a three-week exhibit at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
The 3-foot-by-3-foot, 500-pound bell--inscribed "James Gregory, New York, 1885" in honor of the trapeze artist and founding member of the Gregory Brothers Circus--was recovered by divers from the ocean floor off Coney Island, where it rested for nearly 100 years following the great fire of 1911. Joining BP Markowitz was Captain Gene Ritter and members of the diving team that discovered the bell beneath 25 feet of water, not far from the where the Dreamland Park ferry pier stood off West 8th Street.
The bell will be on display at Brooklyn Borough Hall through Friday, October 23, and is available for public viewing during regular business hours 9am to 5pm (building is closed weekends and on Columbus Day, Monday, October 12).
For more information on the Dreamland bell, visit www.coneyislandhistory.org and www.researchdivers.org .In photo (left to right): Captain Gene Ritter, dive supervisor, Cultural Research Divers; BP Markowitz; John D'Aquino, vessel owner, diver (hidden); Charles Denson, executive director, Coney Island History Project; Paul Bartha, commercial diver
Photo by Kathryn Kirk