Tomorrow through Monday, Cockabilly Records will hold its annual rockabilly festival at Cha Cha’s, featuring 20 bands over the four nights, plus burlesque dancers inside the fine establishment. Cover charge will be between $8 and $15 depending on the night.

Cha Cha’s, is a classic dive bar that is always in season, because it leaves all of its decorations for all the holidays up all year long. It’s on the boardwalk, near Stillwell Ave., the main Coney Island stop. I have found the beer expensive, the bar help friendly, and the bathrooms almost as bad as CBGB.

But it has great bands!

In case you are unfamiliar with rockabilly–it’s hillbilly rock n’ roll. It’s the first kind of music Elvis played.

Now they just play it a hundred miles an hour. If the lyrics are dirty or they sing about werewolves or other creatures from 1950s B movies, it’s called psychobilly.
The new arm–of this festival is the  burlesque and side show both at Cha Cha’s and at The Coney Island Circus Sideshow, sponsored by Burlesque at the Beach.

modern burlesque gals

Burlesque is a cute, old-timey stripper act, where more or less pretty, regular shaped women dance around in their underwear.

Sometimes the crowd likes to dress up like they are “cats and kittens”–bad boys and girls from the 1950s.

I would say for the possible costumery alone, this event is worth the cover charge. But Susquehannah Tool and Die are playing Saturday night 6-7!!! I have taken everyone from Metalheads to classical music lovers to see them. Everyone loves them. Because they are good. They play music straight from the 1940s with a twist.

Here they are playing “Don’t Try This At Home.”

One of the better acts on Friday will be Sasquatch and the Sickabillys.

Many of last year’s performers will also be playing this year. For more music, click here is last year’s last.fm Cha Cha’s rockabilly fest radio.

For the full schedule, visit Cha Cha’s website here.

The wonder wheel was built in 1920 and is 150 feet high with a diameter of 140 feet and can have up to 144 riders. To celebrate the birthday: On Friday September 3rd,  Fireworks & Karaoke from 7pm – 11pm. Saturday September 4th, 4pm – 8 pm, live performances, prizes, entertainment on the Boardwalk, live music with performances by Coney Island Talent Show winners; renowned performers; clowns, face painters, stilt walkers and more! More information available at www.wonderwheel.com Hopefully Earl will stay away.

That’s what Mayor Bloomberg said!
Recently, two synagogues filed suit against the city and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz believing the popular Seaside Summer Concert Series at Asser Levy Park on Surf Avenue was violating noise code. Use of electronic sound amplification equipment within 500 feet of houses of worship during hours of worship is not acceptable the code states. Maybe you are wondering… concert series just finished its 31st season why are complaints coming out now?  Or maybe you believe in the separation of church and state? Or maybe you think this is not covered by the first amendment? Or why not move the concert series to MCU Park?

Joanna is the newest author on the BK Southie team, and she will be writing predominately about Sunset Park. Please be sure to welcome her. Enjoy! -Ed.

Living in Sunset Park all my life I have had my fair share of every type of food. In the eighties and early nineties there existed a few remaining Norwegian spots and Irish bars, unfortunately I was too young to remember much besides the smoked fish, freshly baked bread and some Sheppard’s pie. With all the passing years and all the new neighbors came a new trend of food which was much more exciting to the palate.

To start the tour of good food at great prices in Sunset Park I’ll begin with Maria’s Bistro Mexicano, this cute bistro style restaurant opened first in Park Slope and then in Sunset Park. A major plus about Maria’s is the indoor/outdoor option for dining along with the strong sangrias. Maria’s ingredients are always so fresh and filled with flavor that I sometimes wonder if they grow the vegetables there. For starters the Elote del Mercado is the best corn I have had in years, it is corn on the cob with mayo, chili, cheese and finally topped with lime, the sweetness of the corn and the heat of the chili pepper make it a great starter. The nachos are some of the best I’ve seen around Sunset Park, the freshly homemade chips stay crispy till the very end of the huge portion, which is very unlikely for nachos. The portions are very large and the flavors rich, you can’t go wrong with their huge super tacos (chorizo is my favorite) or any of their burritos for a very cheap dinner. The Rotisserie Chicken is savory and succulent, the El Molcajete Norteño is a great combination of beef and shrimp with salsas that satisfy that urge for spicy Mexican food. To top it all off on Saturdays and Sundays they offer a prolonged brunch until 4:00pm which for only $10.95 you can get a very hardy meal along with unlimited Mimosas, Bloody Maria’s, Champagne, Coffee or Tea that will leave you so full you will definitely be skipping out on dinner.

Maria’s Bistro Mexicano: 886 Fifth Avenue (Between 38th and 39th street) (official site | map)

The next stop is Redang Island located in Brooklyn’s China Town. This Malaysian restaurant is a new addition to the line of Asian restaurants along 8th Avenue. I prefer it over Nyonya, which was the first Malaysian restaurant to appear on the strip, since I feel the service and quality of food is slightly better. The menu is filled with a variety of mild dishes along side items you might cringe at, luckily the vast variety gives every customer a wide spectrum of items to choose from. A classic start is the Roti Canai which is a crispy thin crepe with curry chicken & potato dipping sauce, I recommend to keep the curry around for dipping later on. The tofu, chicken or beef satays are also good sharing appetizers that are complimented with a spicy homemade peanut sauce. The Malaysian culture is known for their many seafood dishes, the best way to order is to ask for a whole fried or steamed fish, depending on the type you like, and pairing this with coconut rice and the Sting Bean, Eggplant, Okra And Petai with spicy shrimp paste plate. If going solo they have great smaller rice dishes available, the Hainanese Chicken is very light/plain and works well with the curry from the Roti. The Nasi Lemak is a very common Malaysian rice dish packed with flavors of coconut, pine leaves, and curry chicken. If you’re in the mood for spare ribs the Redang deep fries these in either Champagne, Guinness or tops them with a honey sauce all under $10 for a entree. The perfect sweet ending to all the spicy food is requesting the dessert Pulut Hitam ($2) which is a creamy black sticky rice with coconut milk served hot/warm. The Redang Island is very affordable and even has lunch specials for $4.95 on weekdays, and lastly the portions are large enough for tomorrow’s lunch.

Redang Island: 5112 8th Avenue (Between 51st and 52nd street) (map)

These are two neighborhood favorites in Sunset Park which will leave you full and satisfied with thoughts of coming back for more next time to try something new! bon appetit!

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (a children’s novel by Wendy Mass), starring young stars Maxwell Beer and Ryan Simpkins with Mira Sorvino, has been filming around the famous Coney Island boradwalk, Mermaid Ave and the amusement park. August 25 is Air Force Night with the Brooklyn Cyclones at MCU Park, so fans look up tonight to see the Air Force’s HUGE Globemaster.

The MTA announced it’s possible proposal for a monthly MetroCard to skyrocket to $130 for their wonderful service.  A weekly MetroCard could jump from $27 to $38, and the one way fare could perhaps go up as high as $2.50, on top of the recent fare hike. It’s time for New York City’s most famous rider and most outspoken supporter of the New York City subway system, billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to speak up for us. Or was it all a publicity stunt that he used the subway to get to work at city hall? 
A man that has $100 million to spend on an election, who meanwhile pays himself a $1 per year salary, otherwise has money to burn. So it is apparent that he does not need the fabulous MTA the way the rest of us working class dogs do. A Democrat until he ran for mayor in 2001, Bloomberg switched to the Republican party. He then left the Republican Party in June 2007 to become an independent and denied he intended to run in the 2008 presidential election, despite his spending millions again trying to determine the feasibility of such a run. So much for democracy in which a basic principle is voting. We New Yorkers voted for term limits, but Bloomberg had these over-turned with rumored back door deals.  In the fall of 2008, Bloomberg switched to the Communist party. This illegally allowed him to run for a third term against the will of the people. What would Karl Marx say? “Job well done,” perhaps? Okay, Czar Bloomberg, it’s time to represent the people of New York….all of us! Even the working class people of New York.

My visit to Coney Island Hospital was not as smiley as their welcome picture on their website suggests (above) but it went smoothly all the same. I had sprained my foot on the way home from vacation and waited to get home before doing anything about it.

I had tried to find a doctor in Sheepshead Bay/Homecrest area who had a staff fluent in English, but couldn’t find anyone. (I had a terrible experience years ago with an American dr. whose nurses only spoke Chinese. When the dr. left the room…)

My foot was swollen and painful by the time I got to the ER, but it didn’t qualify as an emergency. The registration/triage staff was helpful, and got me into a dr.’s hands with only about an hour wait.

Once inside, the dr. made sure I was taken around to the xray with a wheel chair. The orderlies who pick you up and drop you off were a little slow, but perhaps they were a bit understaffed.

My dr. knew what she was doing, and seemed to have time for me and everyone else who needed care.

If you take someone to Coney Island Hospital, and want to hang out with them inside the actual hospital and not the waiting area, you have to go to the desk and ask for a visitor pass. No one will offer you one. You have to take care of it yourself.

The art in the hospital was terrible. But art in hospitals is like first aid kits in museums–old, ugly and not given much thought.

All in all, I felt well taken care of at Coney Island Hospital. The staff was pleasant, friendly, efficient and nicely chatty. They weren’t too understaffed or overcrowded.

But I still hope I won’t have to visit there any time soon.

Reminder: tonight, Councilman Recchia’s Tuesday night “concert” series switches gears, and will be showing Mamma Mia! The Movie at 8pm.

On Thursday, The B-52s will be bringing the free concert as part of the Summer Seaside Concerts. They will be joined by the former Go-Gos frontwoman Belinda Carlisle, because she’s awesome, too. That show starts at 7:30pm.

Asser-Levy Seaside Park is located at on Surf Avenue at West 5th Street.

Local businesses can’t get a break. Property flipping Joe Shitt of Thor Equities had bought acres of Coney Island property and had people believing of new malls, hotels and amusement rides. He only accomplished tearing down areas like the batting cages and the closing of the institution Astroland. Now Zamperla, the Italian amusement company that opened the new Luna Park in May, is asking locate business to prove that they still belong in Coney Island but submitting business models and marketing plans. Zamperla plans to let all the leases expire in October and may bring in Shake Shack and Atomic Wings. Will it go dark popular Ruby’s Bar, Cha Cha’s and Shoot the Freak?

The lights are up and the posters are up: the 33rd Feast of Santa Rosalia, the annual 11-day festival through the heart of Bensonhurst (18th Avenue, from 68th Street to 75th Street), begins on Thursday, August 26, and runs every night from 6pm to 10pm until Sunday, September 5.

Coincidentally, my diet will be starting on Monday, September 6.

Judging by the light placement, I think this year’s Feast may have been trimmed a block, from 67th Street to 68th Street. After all, the Bloomberg Administraion did say earlier in the year that they would be trimming all parades and street festivals to save a few lira in police overtime. I haven’t had a chance to confirm this, but if this observation is correct, then I think our Feast got off the hook lightly. Going from eight blocks to seven is nothing when compared to completely owning the street for four hours, eleven days straight.

Bring on the zeppole!

Photo collage: Brian Hedden