Daily News from New York, New York • 52

52 SURVIVAL ON THE BOARDWALK ooy Islsi Bid sagging but holding obi extra money to spend freely any more." said Sandy Fitlin. "They don't seem to have the additional funds to enjoy themselves like they used to." Coney Island hardly attracts the i IwJU! 4 tin? fu J4 i4 1 irr The way it was: Surf Ave. crowds, 1923 well-to-do, and has not since it became the poor man's paradise in the 1920s when the nickel-a-ride subway reached there. "Let's be honest," Mike Curran said, "We've always been dealing with the lower classes. First, we had the Irish, then the Italians, and now we have the blacks and Puerto Ricans." Astroland's 1981 advertising commercial features a policeman, driver and a construction worker.

"We're catering to the working classes. They're a very important of Coney Island," said Howard Kahn, advertising director of the park. THIS YEAR, apparently wary that high prices will keep customers away, Astroland reduced the price of its combination ticket, good for most rides, from $7.99 to $6.48. Today, the average ticket price is $1 but outstanding attractions get. more.

The Cyclone costs $2 this season. The Wonder Wheel is up to $1.25 from $1 last year, which figures out to a 25 boost Five years ago, the wheel was 50 cents. Michael Saltzstein, operator of the Carousel, tried charging 60 cents at the beginning of last season but expenses were too much and he quickly raised the price to 75 cents. "Every now and then, you get sohie old lady coming up and saying she remembers when the -Carousel was a nickel," Saltzstein said. Still, some Coney Islanders insist the park is the most inexpensive amusement area in the world.

AND SOME, such as Ron Guerrero who this year took over the venerable Thunderbolt remain'stubbornly hopeful. "I stay here mainly because I think there might be new large amusement development at Steeplechase Park," he said. v. I -1 CONEY ISLAND FROM PAGE 49 Cyclone sit like bookends at either end of the amusement area, and the 150-foot high Wonder Wheel towers over all. The -famous parks-within-a-park Dreamland, Luna Park, and the most renown of all all, Steeplechase are gone.

Today, Astroland is the only outside park occupying only three-and-a-half acres, a dwarf compared with Luna's old 22-acre spread. But what remains of Coney Island's amusement area is a vital, lively force. There are still some 25 major rides. And, packed side by side on and off the Midway, are hundreds of cubbyholes that hold carnival games and food stands. Coney Island is hanging in as a unique piece of.

Americana that still enchants millions, old and young, every summer. ABOUT 18 MILLION a season, according to the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce. At its peak in the post-World War II years, half again as many people patronized Coney. On weekends when there were special events like air shows or fireworks, highways would become so congested, police would close off the island. "The reason we're surviving," said Sandford Fitlin, a partner in a disco bumper car ride, "is that we entertain people.

They like the atmosphere. People, come out to Coney and enjoy themselves." Last Memorial Day weekend some 1.25 million came by bus, car or subway to amble along the Boardwalk or squeeze into the teeming amusement area. Still, the locals will admit that Memorial Day was "good but not runaway." And even the normally bullish Chamber of Commerce described June business as merely "satisfactory." Most operators of the major attractions are Coney Island veteran's and remember better times. They are not at all happy with prospects for the area. AND LAST YEAR'S numbers rang no bells.

At Coney, July and August are the key two months. June is less important and Labor Day ends the season. Last year, the weather was superb. "I'll never see it that good again in my lifetime," said Curran, whb runs a scooter rider and the Scrambler. "We didn't lose a weekend." He recalled with relish, "July was great I had all my bills paid.

But then, the bottom fell out in August. Business was off 50. Our only conclusion was that the economy caught up with us." Which is one way of talking about, the high price of tickets. The cost of- '1 fir :6 The way It is: Surf Avenue on a recent weekday melrnkelsteih daily news But New York City has no immedi- lr ate plans for the vacated site. The Park Department bought the property in 1969 and spent the last decade trying to evict a veteran Coney Island "operator from the property.

It finally ejected -him in Easter. But Guerrero echoes the convictions of many of his compatriots along the Midway. "Coney Island is too valuable a piece of property to throw i away," he insists, "I've put lots of money into the Thunderbolt I've painted it and done all kinds of maintenance. I've brought it back to life. We're starting to do better.

We're hold- -'v ing our own and picking up." running an amusement machine has been going up faster than a Ferris Wheel. Amusement rides devour electricity at an enormous rate, for example, and high pay scales have an effect on amusement rider operators. During the summer, concessionaires' days are long 12-to-M hour stretches 'are not Operators often must pay time and a half and sometimes are caught with triple time. An unskilled worker can earn $300 or $400' a week. COVERING THESE costs by raising prices can be a problem.

Coney Islanders worry about outpricing their audience. Curran explained, "A retail business can pass their higher overhead to the public but with us, there's a point where people can't afford it any more." Curran added, "You can get a million people on a weekend but how much can the average person-spend? We have people here but they're not spending." "People don't seem to have the Ad agencies see Tinker as savior for UBC TINKER FROM PAGE 51 CO 5 whether he has perspective enough to program an entire network. Lord only knows that answer." TINKER'S LEADERSHIP spells a new style for NBC, according. tp Alice Greenberg, senior vice president at the Ogilvy Mather ad agency. "Tinker is considered a good businessman and administra-, tor MTM is good proof of that whereas Silverman was considered more of a creative genius," she said.

Silverman had a legendary temper. Tales of his kicking an elevator that kept him waiting are common. "Tinker is a low-key executive who is certainly very comfortable with commercial TV," said Marcel- la Rosen, senior vice president of N. W. Ayer.

"But he certainly shows he has a flair with both comedies and drama. The big difference we expect is that things at NBC will be calmer, that Tinker will delegate more and do less himself. Though the advertisers uniformly praised Tinker as good for NBC and for the no one is underestimating the toughness of his task. Richard Low, executive vice president of the giant Young Rubicam ad agency, said he is one of "a handful of people who might be able to handle this position." "I'd be surprised he'd leave what he had running his own show to take on this responsibility and heartburn," he said. "He is inheriting an enormously difficult situation with few strong series." flit -1 O5" industry.

His having been on virtually every side of the fence, and succeeding, suggests he knows how to do it all." Eugene DeWitt, executive vice president, McCann Erickson, called Tinker a "rarity in network circles for being both creative and intelligent." He said: "Tinker has produced intelligent programing that has attracted large audiences. "He has never been accused of vulgarity, tastelessness and stupidity (accusations which have plagued the networks of The question is.