Devastating storm Sandy hit Coney Island particularly hard. That was many months ago and the damage is still visible as many establishments are still boarded up. Yet, there's life as I discovered a few days ago.
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Coney Island has changed over the decades, but more rapidly in the last 10 years as more modern-looking buildings, new businesses move in replacing the very old and crusty one.
I never lived near CI so I don't know what's better. For most of us, CI is a destination a few times a year. Yes, it's nice to see the very old and "traditional" but I don't know what experience the people who live there have. To put it another way, I do find it interesting when, say, visiting remote village somewhere where its inhabitants basically have a daily life unchanged for hundreds of years. I never assume they should play the part or remain as such for the tourists. It should be their choice.
As for Coney Island, there has been an ongoing debate in the last decade as to how to proceed with revitalizing the area. For many decades CI didn't change much. [Here's a link to CI pictures through the ages]
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The CI museum and place of odd attractions (it's the blue building with the face on it) has been one of the few old edifices still operational. It's worth the small price of admission to see artifacts and an occasional freak show.
CI is in Brooklyn, which is one of the 5 boroughs that comprise New York City. Yes, NYC isn't just Manhattan, but Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
About a mile east, it's the Brighton Beach community, where a strong population of Russians, and I suspect many others from the old Soviet Union, have settled. Most of the language heard on the boardwalk and in the adjacent streets is not English. The area under the elevated train looks very similar to other neighborhoods in Queens (that I'm familiar with) like Jackson Heights and Astoria where there is a strong ethnic flavor.
On a good summer day, especially during holidays and weekends the boardwalk is mobbed by people. It's many miles long and connects CI and BB.
Brooklyn is the westernmost part of Long Island [see map]. I can't say I know this borough well, even though I spent many years of my youth in Queens and the rest of the "island." I intent to revisit some of my old haunts this summer, and venture all the way to the "forks", the easternmost part of LI. It's a different country over there, though it's very familiar to me. Staten Island is the most ..remote borough and the oddity in NYC as it leans Republican.
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Coney Island has changed over the decades, but more rapidly in the last 10 years as more modern-looking buildings, new businesses move in replacing the very old and crusty one.
I never lived near CI so I don't know what's better. For most of us, CI is a destination a few times a year. Yes, it's nice to see the very old and "traditional" but I don't know what experience the people who live there have. To put it another way, I do find it interesting when, say, visiting remote village somewhere where its inhabitants basically have a daily life unchanged for hundreds of years. I never assume they should play the part or remain as such for the tourists. It should be their choice.
As for Coney Island, there has been an ongoing debate in the last decade as to how to proceed with revitalizing the area. For many decades CI didn't change much. [Here's a link to CI pictures through the ages]
.JPG)
CI is in Brooklyn, which is one of the 5 boroughs that comprise New York City. Yes, NYC isn't just Manhattan, but Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
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| Brighton Beach |
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| A portion of the boardwalk in Coney Island, looking West. |
Brooklyn is the westernmost part of Long Island [see map]. I can't say I know this borough well, even though I spent many years of my youth in Queens and the rest of the "island." I intent to revisit some of my old haunts this summer, and venture all the way to the "forks", the easternmost part of LI. It's a different country over there, though it's very familiar to me. Staten Island is the most ..remote borough and the oddity in NYC as it leans Republican.
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| Luna Park opened for the season a few days ago. Very thin attendance though. |
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| Next to the new Luna Park there are a few old establishments for cheap entertainment |
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| The beach, which is still free and open year round. I expected much more beach erosion. Sandy Hood looms in the distance. |
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