MMDer Bob Yorburg is mentioned in a recent Wall Street Journal article,
published December 9, 2012, for his role in the restoration of Coney
Island after the extreme damage done by hurricane Sandy.  Extracts:

  As storm-battered Coney Island rebuilds after Sandy, the operators
  of its famed amusements face a specific challenge: how to refurbish
  beloved but antiquated rides and games without stripping the
  novelties of their character. ...

"Grandma's Predictions," an automaton at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement
Park, was submerged in storm water.  Yorburg took the fortune-telling
to his shop for repairs.

  Grandma now sits in a kind of intensive-care ward for century-old
  knickknacks in the Westchester County workshop of Bob Yorburg, 57,
  who specializes in carnival repair, and who recently revamped the
  carousel organ for the Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center. ...

  In his workshop -- amid candlestick telephones and a hoard of subway
  tokens -- Mr. Yorburg tinkers with Grandma.  He has found her new
  vintage wax hands, a new dress and new wig, but mostly he is fixing
  her guts, which were completely submerged in the storm. ...

  "Admiring craftsmanship and antiquity is all well and good," he said,
  "but it's better if you can see it work.  I get to do that.  I bring
  these machines back to life."

The article is entitled "Rough Ride for Arcades at Coney Island Park."
Yorburg is shown with Grandma in the first two images of the slideshow,
"Saving Coney Island Favorites," in the middle of the page at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323501404578165283531252180.html 

A possible contemporary of "Grandma's Predictions," the life-size
dancing mannequin called "Miss Coney Island", is featured in articles
by Tricia Vita posted at http://amusingthezillion.com/tag/automaton/ 

Robbie Rhodes - MMDigest