The wooden merry-go-round (or carousel), which was built by the
Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1922, features 48 carved horses attributed to John Zalar and Frank Carretta. The manufacturer designated it PTC #61. The carousel had operated for many years at
Idora Park in Youngstown, Ohio until a fire at the park prompted the owners to decide to put the carousel up for sale. At Idora's 1984 auction, the carousel was sold for $385,000 to
David Walentas, a real estate developer, and Jane Walentas, a former art director for
Estee Lauder. The auction was described by local Mickey Rindin to Vince Guerrieri in
The New Colonist: First, bids were taken on each individual horse. Then, when each individual horse had a sale price, bids were taken for the whole carousel. The opening bid was the sum of the price for all the horses plus ten percent, which came to $385,000. A buyer was found, and a great cry went up from the crowd because the horses would stay together. 'They didn't want it to leave one horse at a time,' Rindin said. Originally, the carousel was supposed to be located in a waterfront development at
Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, created by David Walentas; however, the development was canceled in 1999. The Walentases restored the merry-go-round over the ensuing 22 years, the culmination of which was revealed on October 13, 2006, when it was rechristened "Jane's Carousel." Jane Walentas made it known that she wanted the carousel to be given a permanent place in
Brooklyn Bridge Park, going so far as to pay a $500,000 fee for a pavilion to house it designed by
Pritzker Prize-winning architect
Jean Nouvel. Opinions differed at the time on whether the master plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park (which abuts
Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and borders the
East River) could accommodate the carousel. In October 2012, the carousel suffered minor water damage due to
Hurricane Sandy, and the ride reopened a few months later. ==Gallery==