By Jonann Brady
One rite of passage involved the miniature train ride. Kids had to turn a crank with their hands to get around the track. Usually they got stuck, and an attendant would have to give the train a kick to get it moving again. But, said Monti, "When you got around by yourself, you knew you were a big kid."
The other involved the most famous Nunley's attraction -- the carousel. "It was all about getting the ring," said Monti. "You got the brass ring and you got a free ride."
Nunley's and its famous carousel disappeared from Baldwin in 1995, much to the dismay of area residents. The property, owned by the three elderly Lercari brothers, was sold and a Pep Boys Auto Parts Superstore built there. Even more painful to many was that the rides would be auctioned off to the highest bidder, including the hand-carved carousel horses, piece by piece.
After public protest, Nassau County declared the carousel an historic artifact in order to keep the carousel part of county property.
Now the director of visitor services for the soon-to-open Museum of Aviation at Mitchel Field, Monti is in charge of the restoration of the carousel and has become a de facto authority on the ride.
As a historian, Monti unraveled the carousel's journey to Baldwin. Created in 1910 by master carvers Stein & Goldstein of Brooklyn, the Coney Island-style carousel had three rows of 42 horses, one lion, two chariots and a dozen mirrored panels. Initially, the carousel went on the road with traveling carnivals, then in 1915 wound up in Canarsie but was moved to make way for what is now the Belt Parkway. In 1940, the carousel found a home in Baldwin for the next 55 years.
After being saved from extinction, the Nunley's horses will ride again, this time as part of the Long Island Children's Museum at Mitchel Field. Though the Children's Museum is slated to open within weeks, the carousel may not open for nine months or more, depending on the pace of restoration, said Monti.
The restoration, which is being done by an Ohio company and will cost about $400,000, involves restoring each horse's original detailing, which had been lost to years of sloppy paint jobs and neglect. The Museum is hoping to raise funds for the restoration by finding benefactors for individual horses.
Monti has already seen the photos of two of the restored horses and said, "It's going to be a knockout when it's done."
As Monti toured the building where the horses are held, he pointed out his favorite black stallion when he was a kid and then to another black steed with its tongue sticking out. "That's the carvers sending a message to the owner," he laughed.
For Monti and others who remember Nunley's, the restoration of the carousel is about preserving a piece of Americana being eradicated by malls and highways and superstores.
"It's almost folk art," said Monti. "People were sad to see it go. It was an institution."
