Flushing Meadows Carousel
The Flushing Meadows Carousel is a carousel located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens. It contains four rows of figures, including 64 jumping horses, 7 standing horses, 1 menagerie animal, and 2 chariots. It was created to serve patrons of the 1964 New York World's Fair by combining two earlier carousels, both of which were carved in Coney Island in the first decade of the twentieth century by renowned carver Marcus Illions. During the fair, it stood on a nearby site within the park, and it was moved to its present site in 1968, where it has remained in service ever since.
Carousel in 2014
Note the slots in the floor that allow the horses to tilt while the carousel is in motion, an unusual feature.
The flamboyant ornamentation was characteristic of the "Coney Island" style of carousel carving.
This figure graces the inner section near the calliope.
Marcus Charles Illions was a master carver of wooden carousel horses and other figures at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City in the early 20th century. The New York Times referred to him as "the Michelangelo of carousel carvers".
A 1909 Illions creation on Coney Island's B&B Carousell