(Former) Childs Restaurant Building

Designated February 4, 2004

Constructed in 1923, this restaurant building on the Boardwalk of Coney Island was designed by Dennison & Hirons in a fanciful resort style combining elements of the Spanish Colonial Revival with numerous maritime allusions that refer to its seaside location. This spacious restaurant building originally had a rooftop pergola and continuous arcades on two facades to allow for extensive ocean views.

Clad in stucco, the building’s arches, window openings and end piers feature elaborate polychrome terracotta ornament in whimsical nautical motifs that include images of fish, seashells, ships, and the ocean god Neptune. This building, with its large size, showy ornamentation and location on the Boardwalk, is a rare reminder of the diversions that awaited the huge crowds who thronged to Coney Island after the completion of the subway routes to the area.

*Excerpt from the Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report

STATUS Designated Individual Landmarks

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The Neighborhood

Coney Island

Coney Island faces Lower New York Bay and Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and was formerly part of Gravesend, one of Brooklyn’s original six towns. Originally an island it was connected to Brooklyn (Long Island) by landfill in the early 20th century.

Aaron Dexter, Aaron Douglas, Abolitionist, Academic Classic, Adamesque, Addisleigh Park, Admiral's Row, African American, Al Smith, American Aesthetic, American Art ... VIEW ALL

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Local Voices

“I don’t know what the City would be without HDC. [They] testified before LPC time after time and helped us focus on the right issues. We would not be an historic district without HDC! ”

Doreen Gallo: DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance

Local Voices

“Use HDC as a resource because they know what they are doing and can offer advice on how to go about creating a district from every front: architectural, political, LPC, and the media. I had floundered prior to my involvement with this invaluable organization.”

Fern Luskin: Lamartine Place Historic District; Friends of Lamartine Place & Gibbons Underground Railroad Site

Local Voices

“HDC provided guidance and shared information during that process—we knew which Council members were going one way or another and we changed a few minds. I don’t think NoHo would have had as cohesive a district had it not been for HDC’s aid.”

Zella Jones: NoHo Historic District; NoHo East; and NoHo Extension

Local Voices

“I remember Richard saying at a meeting, we have someone here from HDC, Nadezhda Williams, Director of Preservation and Research, to help us. She said to us, ‘You are not the only ones going through this.’ HDC included us in an enormous community”

Erika Petersen: West End Preservation Society

Local Voices

"HDC has begun a series of projects to highlight the Bronx's architectural and cultural history. From booklet's and research highlighting specific sites and historic districts to the HDC's symposium in October 2018 to the latest community-based committee to look into further possible sites to qualify for landmarking, the HDC has established projects that will serve the Bronx community well."

Elena Martinez
City Lore, Folklorist
Bronx Music Heritage Center, Co-Artistic Director

Local Voices

"Welcome2TheBronx is grateful for the advocacy done by the Historic Districts Council on behalf of the people of The Bronx. Through their deep connections and understanding of the importance of preserving our local histories, The Bronx has been able to have several spotlights shown on endangered communities as gentrification creeps into the borough."

Ed García Conde,
founder and Executive Director,
Welcome2TheBronx