Chinatown Fair Arcade Re-Opening?

mhochman

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http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/18/new-yorks-chinatown-fair-re-opening/

"Live in New York? Miss the familiar sound of a quarter dropping into an arcade slot? If so, then news that the Chinatown Fair arcade could be re-opening will definitely give you a power-up. It turns out that film maker Kurt Vincent headed down to the disused locale to shoot its vacant halls, only to bump into the new owner shuffling some game cabinets back in. Sadly there's sparse little other info about how or when we might see the flicker of screens lighting up the walls once more, but at least you should be able to beat that OutRun top score in relative comfort soon."


This place was the home of the Famous (infamous?) Dancing and Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken 'Arcade' Games. I used to go there all the time whenever i was in NYC visiting my family!
 
I drove by a few weeks ago and the sign was still there but covered up. I guess nobody was willing to pay the high rent and spend some serious money to renovate that place. If they do open again, they need to move the DDR machines in the back corner. Nothing is worse than playing pinball with someone's sweat all over you from doing their work out on DDR.
 
I knew of that arcade but on my one trip to NYC 7 years ago I happen to stumble into that place with my wife and her friend.

It was cool and very old school. I didn't play anything but did get a look around. I grew up going to Pakman arcade in Pasadena CA during the heyday of the late 80's and 90's... Chinatown Fair brought me back memory lane with it's vibe...
 
They're doing a documentary on that joint. I sponsored the kickstarter program the filmmakers had. Got a tshirt, waiting for the film to be finished.
 
nice to see a classic location from the 80s possibly coming back. I wandered by so many places like that when I was a kid ^^
 
Looks like they are open, BUT... not quite the classic arcade it was.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/07/new-yorks-chinatown-fair-arcade-hits-reset-plays-a-new-game/

"When Chinatown Fair closed in March of last year, Filmmaker Kurt Vincent went to work documenting the New York arcade's final days, continuing to return to the location after it shuttered to work on his upcoming film, Arcade. Imagine his surprise when he ran into Lonnie Sobel, the famous amusement hall's new owner, stocking it with new game cabinets. It's been a few months since Vincent's discovery, but Chinatown Fair finally reopened its doors over the weekend. Old regulars may want to brace themselves, however, Sobel's playing a different game.

"We're kind of a cross between a Dave & Busters and a Chuck E. Cheese," the new owner told Gothamist, "We're trying to do the best of both worlds." Sobel's hoping to merge the old Chinatown Fair's culture of fighting games with an assortment of family friendly amusements: skee-ball, air hockey, Guitar Hero, hoop basketball and a counter for redeeming tickets for prizes. The new Fair will also sell game time for use on a Xbox 360 and games like Call of Duty, played on one of two flat screen televisions. Not all of the old arcade's former regulars are happy with the changes, but, as Vincent noted, they "say they're just happy it exists." That makes more than a few of us."
 
I drove by 2 weeks ago on a saturday. They weren't open. The sign is missing a couple of characters.
 
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