{"id":6351,"date":"2025-10-17T12:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T12:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/6351\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T12:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T12:47:10","slug":"the-lost-magic-of-staten-islands-south-beach-how-a-beloved-amusement-strip-disappeared-then-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/6351\/","title":{"rendered":"The lost magic of Staten Island\u2019s South Beach: How a beloved amusement strip disappeared | Then and Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"4VAYDJS5FBATNLYBRQSNAIK3AE\">STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The view of Sand Lane in South Beach in 1955, from Oceanside Avenue, showcased various entertainment venues, including the South Beach Diner, a soft ice cream shop, a delicatessen, a pizzeria and amusement rides. <\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sand Lane|Then and Now\" class=\"hero-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/FIIGL3AHM5BEHOAUUG6Y6MHLE4.JPG\"\/>Looking down Sand Lane from Oceanside Avenue toward the beach on Oct. 14, 2025.(Advance\/SILive.com| Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"FI3BBTBC2ZHWFAJFL6RYPBR7F4\">In 1941, an amusement park opened on the then-busy boardwalk affectionately known as \u201cthe South Beach rides.\u201d It moved to this strip of Sand Lane in 1953 and quickly became a popular destination for Island residents. After decades of fun, the amusement attraction closed in 1999. <\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sand Lane|Then and Now\" class=\"hero-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SJC4SRCFPREK5EKJAX5ZDJ4N3M.jpg\"\/>The former amusement park on Sand Lane in South Beach, looking toward the beach. Staten Island Advance<img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sand Lane|Then and Now\" class=\"hero-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4Q5HHXC7VVH2TEQUOWAHIC5YHU.jpg\"\/>The South Beach Amusement Park on Sand Lane, facing toward Grasmere. Staten Island Advance<img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sand Lane|Then and Now\" class=\"hero-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/RT5WELTU4FHMJIEQ3PWPMRIYCI.JPG\"\/>1955: The South Beach Diner sits on Sand Lane in South Beach. To the left was a soft ice cream shop. Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"Q4VOZZUZC5B4NKBCBKNIUQ2QQI\">Currently in its place, a development of attached houses was built, and a Key Food grocery store was constructed nearby on the same side of the street taking over other amusement icons, such as the go-carts, a scary house of horrors called the \u201cFun House,\u201d and an arcade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"6QDWOG3MJ5AIZC5KHW3VTMWOO4\">On the opposite side of the street, a collection of businesses, known as \u201cThe Shops at South Beach,\u201d emerged. This currently includes food establishments, a florist, exercise facilities, a daycare\/preschool, and an elementary school. <\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sand Lane|Then and Now\" class=\"hero-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GH5CF4JJ4FFJ5JZBOX5MVII5KM.JPG\"\/>Looking down Sand Lane toward the beach from Key Food. (Google Maps Nov. 2024)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n<p>If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.advancelocal.com\/advancelocalUserAgreement\/user-agreement.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.advancelocal.com\/advancelocalUserAgreement\/privacy-policy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The view of Sand Lane in South Beach in 1955, from Oceanside Avenue, showcased&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-6351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}