Entrance to Luna Park and Kister's Hotel

Taken from Surf Avenue looking north west. To the east of the main entrance to Luna Park is Kisters Hotel and Restaurant. The building survived numerous fires, and the demise of its famous neighbor, until the 1970's.

"For nearly a hundred years, the Kister Building served as Coney's 'clubhouse.' In 1895, Fred Kister bought a small lot on the north side of Surf Avenue in front of the Sea Beach Palace and opened a carousel shed. The following year, he expanded and added a three-story building next door to the carousel. Kister's restaurant occupied the two lower floors of the frame structure, and the third floor became apartments. In 1903, when Thompson and Dundy opened Luna Park, the pair put the main entrance alongside the Kister Building, making it one of the best-known locations in Coney Island."
(from: Coney Island: Lost and Found, by Charles Denson)