About a month after Coney Island buffs called attention to the significance of this 19th century building, the city began demolishing it this week. The small structure sits on property that used to be Astroland Park, but long before that it was the kitchen for Charles Feltman's popular restaurant. Feltman (1841-1910), a German butcher who's credited with the idea of selling pork sausages on a warm bun, popularized the hot dog, and one of his employees was none other than Nathan Handwerker, who slept on the kitchen floor before going onto start Nathan's Famous! But all we are is crumbs in the wind, and the city is tearing it down as part of a major redo of the amusement district. Also lost to the wrecking ball is this mural, painted on one wall by artist Rita Ackermann in 2004. [Via Curbed/Coney Island Message Board] more ›

It's no Man Getting Hit By Football, but this video of a Dodge van getting smashed by a wrecking ball is probably worth ten of your seconds, depending on what you've got going on today. While there is some debate as to the origins of the video—one YouTube commenter astutely declares, "has to be fake i live in nyc and I would have heard about this shit in the news and on the front of the ny post"—we're pretty sure this looks like a filmed stunt for a movie, or maybe a viral marketing ad. If so, you're welcome Astroboy! more ›