Have you ever noticed, that once you start looking for something, you start to see it everywhere? As if it’s finding you?
Turns out, this is known as frequency illusion (Also called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon). According to the Oxford English Dictionary frequency illusion is defined as:
A quirk of perception whereby a phenomenon to which one is newly alert suddenly seems ubiquitous.
Once we started this project, we started to notice carousels in unexpected places, and they seemed to also find us! We wanted to share some of the magic we encountered in 2025 with the more ethereal carousels of NYC.
Luna Luna
Luna Luna was a fever dream amusement park in Hamburg, Germany with a brief run in 1987. It was organized by multi-modal Austrian artist André Heller as an all encompassing escape from the realities of the world. He recruited artists to create surrealist versions of typical carnival fare including two carousels by artists Arik Brauer and Keith Haring.
As we were working on this project, The Shed an art space in Chelsea has a blockbuster exhibit which brought the pieces of the Luna Luna amusement park back together, reportedly now in the musician Drake’s personal collection. Serendipitously, CUNY offered students, faculty, and a staff a free ticket to the exhibit, and beyond the splendor of it all, felt quite pleased to not only see the carousels, but see the joy and wonder they brought to other visitors. No rides allowed though!
Brooklyn Museum
2025 marked the Brooklyn Museum’s 200th anniversary, and as such, they put on a exhibit to show off the best of the permanent collection which included an original Coney Island horse! Their Instagram post says it better than I can:
Carousel Easter Bonnet
Everybody whose anybody knows that the Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival on 5th Avenue is the place to be on Easter Sunday in New York City! As I delighted in the photos of all the creative bonnets online, I came across a person who had made a carousel bonnet (slide 3 on the Instagram post below). Iconic!
Down the Rabbit Hole Carousel at the PUBLIC Hotel
And then what do we have here? Saving the best for last, Carla ran into a surprise carousel!
On a night out, walking into the PUBLIC Hotel in Nolita, I see an opening between two lavish bushes, I take a peek into Public’s courtyard and see this graffiti/comic-like carousel. Miniature too, it has only 5-6 horses to ride on but each horse is unique in it’s design and colors. I had to snap a pic – to the capture the moment before the sunset. Right when I thought I was taking a break from working on this project I saw such an amazing piece of artwork on a carousel – I couldn’t wait to tell the rest of the team!
If you can, go visit! It’s open until August of 2025 and is free!
215 Chrystie St, New York, NY 10002
In the courtyard of PUBLIC Hotel
