Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
Last Remnant of Feltman's, Coney Island Hot Dog Pioneer, To Be Demolished
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 19, 2010
Modified Jan 19, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 6
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 19, 2010
Modified Jan 19, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
It was not Nathan Handwerker—a Jewish immigrant from Poland who went on to start Nathan's Famous—who brought the hot dog to Coney Island, but rather Charles Feltman (1841-1910), a German butcher who's credited with the idea of selling pork sausages on a warm bun, sometime around 1867. Feltman reportedly sold 3,684 sausages on a roll during his first year in business, pushing around a wagon to hungry beachgoers. The popular item ultimately sold for ten cents a pop and enabled Feltman to build a mini-empire with a hotel, beer gardens, restaurants, food stands, and amusements. All hot dog money. And Nathan Handwerker? He slept on the floor of Feltman's kitchen, which is all that remains of Feltman's legacy, and it's going to be demolished.
"Handwerker’s job was slicing hot dog rolls and delivering the franks to the guys who toiled at the grilling stations," writes Amusing the Zillion. "The young man lived on free hot dogs... to save his $11 per week salary. At the end of the year, he’d saved $300 and opened a competing stand-5 cents a hot dog instead of 10 cents. That was the beginning of Nathan’s Famous and the downfall of Feltman’s, which went out of business in 1952." The property became Astroland Park, and now all that's left is the kitchen. It was used as a workshop for the rides, and though it's not much to look at, this was arguably the spot where a legendary hot dog empire was first dreamed up. Nevertheless, it's among the structures to be torn down on land recently purchased by the city.
Tagged
brooklyn
coney island
Demolish
feltman's
hot dog
nathan's
nyc
old postcards
photos
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Published Sep 12, 2026
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
Is it worth the high price and ridiculous wait? Gothamist needed to find out.
By
Sonia Rao
Food
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
Is it worth the high price and ridiculous wait? Gothamist needed to find out.
By
Sonia Rao
5 NYC banana puddings as good as Magnolia's
By
Hannah Frishberg
Where to eat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn right now, from Polish to Sichuan to Iberian
By
Robert Sietsema
Can a congressional candidate's dumpling diplomacy win over Queens’ immigrant communities?
By
Caroline Shin
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .