Get a piece of Coney Island history with furniture carved out of iconic boardwalk

May 11, 2010
Erin Durkin

From the boardwalk to your living room.A Red Hook workshop is using planks from the iconic Coney Island Boardwalk to build a new line of furniture."It's a little piece of the Boardwalk, a little piece of New York history," said Jason Horvath, 32, co-founder of Uhuru Design.The battered boards are being torn up and replaced as part of a $30 million city renovation project as the faded seaside mecca is hoping for a big comeback this summer.On Memorial Day weekend, Luna Park, a new amusement park with 19 rides, will open as the centerpiece of the city's revival plan.Owning a chunk of the Boardwalk as part of Uhuru's limited edition line won't come cheap.The Cyclone Lounger - with a white metal base and wood surface meant to mimic the dips and waves of the famous roller coaster - goes for $7,200.The rest of the pieces are inspired by other Coney icons: There's a Wonder Wheel coffee table, an end table crafted to evoke the Parachute Jump, and a console table that mimics the wood pattern of the original Boardwalk."It's the story of Coney Island as a whole that was really interesting to us," Horvath said. The company plans to make just 10 of each item.He said it takes plenty of work to turn the decades-old weathered gray planks into something suitable for furniture."When we get this stuff, it's covered with chewing gum," he said. "It's cracked open. There's screw holes from where they reattached it in 10 spots. ...It's been worn down and used for all those years."The company cleaned them up to find "orange, yellows, reddish hues."What we were surprised about was how the wood looked once we started refinishing it," he said. "It's really beautiful. ...It's amazing that's what's underneath all those years of wear."Uhuru isn't the only game in town when it comes to finding new and interesting uses for old Boardwalk planks.Manhattan company Olde Good Things also has used Boardwalk wood to make furniture, selling $1,200 benches and $450 tables crafted from Brazilian walnut planks at its Chelsea and Greenwich Village stores.Uhuru specializes in making furniture out of salvaged materials. The firm has made pieces out of Kentucky bourbon barrels and beams from torn-down buildings.Bill Hilgendorf, 30, who designed the collection along with Horvath, said that on days when no one went from Uhuru to pick up the ripped-up planks, they were "just thrown in Dumpsters.""There's value in saving any material from the trash, that's pretty much our philosophy," he said. "But these ones in particular, because of the rich history, they deserve special treatment."