Her future's so bright, she's gotta wear skates
Dianna Carlin fought for her beloved Coney Island, and was rewarded with the pink rink of her dreams
By Anna Dilemna
Published: April 23rd, 2008 | 2:20pm
Offering an unlikely combination of tawdry decadence and wholesome family fun, New York's Coney Island has always had something for everyone. People go there to lounge on the beach, ride the rickety Cyclone roller coaster, or merely to check out the boardwalk where Burlesque showgirls, Puerto Rican school kids, Hasidic grannies, and an assortment of other New York characters can all be found strolling on lazy summer afternoons. Whatever their reasons for going, people are sure to return home happy with sand in their underwear and plenty of stories to share.
Dianna Carlin is the owner of the Lola Staar Souvenir Boutique. Right on the Coney Island boardwalk between the parachute jump and the Wonder Wheel, the vividly pink boutique is sure to catch your eye! Inside you'll find beach toys, Coney Island memorabilia, and a huge assortment of fun and quirky toys. Dianna works hard to create just the right atmosphere in her boutique, and she carefully selects everything from the décor of pink feathers and disco lights to the music she blasts ¬– a wide selection of danceable tunes that range from the GoGo's to the Clash.
Best of all, it's here that you can find the famous Lola Staar tees designed by Dianna herself. With collections such as “Pirate Punk” and “Burlesque”, Dianna perfectly captures the carnivalesque spirit of Coney Island. Although she studied painting in college, she says that she felt disillusioned by its limited scope. “With t-shirts, anyone can buy one and just wearing it can change the way that they feel about themselves.”
In 2005, the majority of Coney Island, including the Lola Staar boutique, was bought up by the ominously named Thor Equities. With plans to raze existing amusements and build luxury condos, Thor threatened to replace Coney Island's trademark grit with Las Vegas style glitz. When Dianna first received an eviction notice from Thor, she was devastated. Even worse was having to watch the daily destruction of her beloved Coney Island. “Everyday I would see things being bulldozed and landmarks disappearing, and I kept wondering why no one was doing anything about it”.
There was gloom on the horizon, but people still held out hope that someone might burst on the scene and save Coney Island from Thor and his evil henchmen. Luckily, spunky superheroines don't just exist in comic books. Armed with nothing but a fierce dedication to Coney Island, Dianna started the Save Coney Island Organization, which now has over 3,000 members. Her goal was to spread information about the redevelopment and to give people an opportunity to voice their opinions. In March 2007, Dianna organized a "No Condos in Coney" demonstration at New York's City Hall that included protesting mermaids, stilt walkers, and a 20 piece marching band. Largely thanks to the public attention drawn by Dianna's efforts, Thor's development plans for Coney Island have now come to a stand-still with the city declaring a large part of the amusement district to be a public park in which no residential development will be allowed.
Even before her run-ins with Thor, Dianna had faced and conquered her fair share of obstacles as a Coney Island business owner. “For the most part, Coney Island has always been owned and run by local people who've had the businesses in their families for years. As an outsider and as a woman, it wasn't easy to convince them that I belonged there.” After seven years of not giving up, Dianna now says she feels both the acceptance and support of her fellow boardwalkers.
In March 2008, Dianna opened the Lola Staar Dreamland Roller Rink on the Coney Island boardwalk. Opening a roller rink had always been a dream of Dianna's, which she was finally able to realize when she won the “Make Your Dreams Come True” contest sponsored by Glamour Magazine and Tommy Hilfiger. As winner of the contest, Dianna is receiving financial support as well as having a documentary made about the process of opening the roller rink.
It's easy to see that the neon-filled futures of both Coney Island and Dianna Carlin are looking brighter than ever. New York's reigning star of Burlesque, Angie Pontani compared the two when she said, “Coney Island has a very never-say-die kind of feeling. It's been through a lot but it's not going away. Dianna is the same. She's unstoppable!” So next time you're in Coney Island and you see a flash of roller skate wheels and a whiz of pink curls race past you, it's not a bird or a plane. It's Lola Staar!
Issue #35
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