Coney Island has been around longer than any of us and has gone through many incarnations. Like the cockroach, it’s a survivor. Coney has outlived Robert Moses and Fred Trump, two of the developers who molested the down and out amusement park. But will it survive Thor?
I dunno. There’s not much left to save at this point now that Astroland is gone. Perhaps people have been saying that for years (minus the Astroland part), but it was one of my favorite destinations when I was growing up in the 1970’s.
Coney was already run down by then. It was like the (old) Times Square of amusement parks. Dirty, forgotten and desolate at times. But the crowds still came on the weekends. They were the families who couldn’t afford to go to Long Island or the mountains for the summer. The kids who weren’t sent away to camp. Those without cars or money to get them all the way out to Great Adventure, the great new amusement park that kicked Coney Island in the ass.
I have few memories of going with my parents in the 60’s when I was really young. My brother used to do a mean “laughing lady in the funhouse” impersonation to scare me. I have photos of myself on the kiddy rides. I remember the Stillwell Avenue train station was kind of festive and I’d get excited as we exited.
By junior high I was able to go myself. I cut school with a few friends one day and we rode the water flume (my favorite ride) at least 4 times in a row. We also ran into some other cutters who had the same idea that day.
What made the rides scary was the fact that they were so old and rickety. Like the Cyclone. There were other roller coasters that were just as bad. Even the spook houses. It wasn’t the monsters popping out that was spooky, it was the creaking sounds of the old wheels as they made their way through the dark. The jerking of the cars. It was all part of the scare factor.
I remember going on the pirate ship ride one night. It was a quiet evening so the guy running it gave us an extra long ride. So long, I got nauseous and almost lost it. I wondered if someone across from me got sick, if it would hit me. Luckily, I didn’t find out. I think the guy did it purposely just to torture us.
By high school, my family was living in Coney Island. We had an apartment right across from the aquarium where I could hear the sea lions chatting with each other. I could also hear the screams from The Cyclone and other rides. According to the Astroland website, The Cyclone will remain open for the 2009 season, along with The Wonder Wheel.
Across from the boardwalk back in the 80’s, there were stalls where vendors sold inexpensive vintage items. This was the best secret in the city at the time because NOBODY was coming out to Coney Island from Manhattan. Mermaid Parade and Polar Bears? What’s that? Furniture, vinyl (well, there were no CDs back then and definitely no iPods), tschotkes and best of all…clothing. I bought 1940’s wool suits for $2 and 60’s mod dresses for a buck. If you ask me, those markets were the biggest lose.
Guess Coney Island will metamorphose into something more suitable for the new cleaner, safer, characterless New York. She’s not going anywhere. But her spirit may wane.
Coney Island History Project
