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Staten Island Bar Scores Crane Claw Game With Live Lobsters Instead Of Toys
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 28, 2011
Modified Nov 28, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 28, 2011
Modified Nov 28, 2011
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You know those arcade games in which you operate a small crane with a claw on the end in an attempt to fish out a stuffed animal and get laid? Know what would make that "game" even more fulfilling? If, in addition to impressing your date, you walked away with a living animal which you could then slaughter and eat. For decades, many Americans have enjoyed just such an amusement by playing The Lobster Zone, verily "the most exciting development to hit the vending machine industry in the last 20 years" (according to the company's website). Now, at last, New Yorkers can get in on the fun!
The International Business Times reports that the newly opened Dugout Pub South in Great Kills boasts what is likely the only Lobster Zone game in the tri-state area. Players insert $2 into the machine for their shot at scoring a live lobster, and owner Robert Renaud says customers "have been going crazy over the game" since the bar opened. One patron even sank almost $50 into the Lobster Zone in an attempt to win a crustacean! Looks like it's time to update our list of things that make Staten Island respectable. Here's video of the game in action.
Of course, not everyone thinks making a game out of killing an animal is harmless fun. Last spring PETA held a protest at a Chicago bar that featured a similar lobster game, and the owner got rid of it. But Renaud insists it's all perfectly humane, because the tank has salt water and the claw that captures the lobsters "is specifically designed" to operate underwater without electrocuting the lobsters. Phew—we wouldn't want them to get hurt before they're boiled to death!
Tagged
dugout pub south
lobster zone
lobsters
staten island
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.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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