When we first moved to Brooklyn and were invited to a birthday party at the Prospect Park Carousel, I didn’t realize that the party would have the carousel all to itself.  The site of the kids riding the horses over and over for two hours brought back a flood of memories from my own childhood – I would ride the carousel at our local amusement park as many times as my mother and grandmother could stand.

The Prospect Park Carousel is very popular for birthday parties, and for years we forgot to book it early enough.  This year we finally managed to have our daughter’s birthday party there, and it was everything I had hoped it would be.  Birthday renters get the space for two hours, including set-up and clean-up.  A couple of six-foot tables are provided by the park; everything else you need to bring yourself.  When I wasn’t busy passing out cupcakes or making sure there were enough bagels, I got a chance to check out the carousel up-close.

According to the Prospect Park Alliance, which re-opened the renovated carousel in 1990 (it had been shuttered for seven years due to mechanical problems), it’s one of only twelve surviving carousels made by Charles Carmel, a master carver who set the standard for carousels in the early 20th century, working out of his shop in Coney Island.  It was brought to Prospect Park in 1952 to replace a carousel that had burned down.  By the time the Prospect Park Alliance undertook the carousel’s renovation in the late 80s, extensive repairs were necessary and 20 layers of paint had to be removed from the horses.

The greatest charm of the Prospect Park Carousel is the music.  It’s not the recorded crap that plays on most carousels, it’s an actual Wurlitzer Band Organ, one of those old-fashioned machines that plays several instruments.  The music gives the carousel a feel completely different from a typical mall carousel.  It transports you back in time.

The carousel’s price of $1.50 per ride doesn’t cover its operating expenses – private donations make up the difference.  Patrons can “adopt” a horse for a season, or even permanently.  The carousel runs from early April until late October, weather permitting.