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Coney Island 1/1/11

Coney Island 1/1/11 published on 1 Comment on Coney Island 1/1/11

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Happy 2011! We made our annual trek down to Coney for the Polar Bear swim. Apologies for the photos in advance. Arrived too late to get the 1pm “Everybody into the water!”, then realized my lens filter was shattered and stuck on the lens. So, some artsy “cracked lens” technique going on here.

New Year’s Day Polar Bears 2009

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Check out the shot of me photographing this guy!

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Coney’s Last Gasp

Coney’s Last Gasp published on

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that we decided to visit Aunt Elaine in Coney Island and have a stroll along the boardwalk. We happened upon the final last call (maybe) of Ruby’s and Paul’s Daughters (aka Gregory’s). Their leases have been terminated to make way for the Disneyfication of Coney Island. Amusing the Zillion and Sheepshead Bites have the full story.

I’ve mentioned here before that I lived in Brightwater Towers across from the aquarium during my teen years. I was still there, living with my parents, when I took up photography. To this day, my favorite place to shoot is Coney during the winter months, when it’s desolate. The decay is what makes it beautiful.

Coney Island’s appearance (or lack of) is not what makes it special. The people do. Like the lost Times Square of the 1970’s, Coney is home to a vast array of eccentric souls. The geriatric handball players. The big Russian guys swimming in sub zero temperatures. The ladies with hair to match the candy apples.

I like to think that they will remain. The courts, the water and the boardwalk will always be there for them. As gentrification spreads around the neighborhood, they will probably be priced out or bought out though.

Who knows? Maybe one day Florida will be become the new Coney Island. Oh right, a bunch of them are down there with my mom already. And you know what? It’s really not the same. 🙁

Reclaimed Wood Straight Outta Bklyn

Reclaimed Wood Straight Outta Bklyn published on 5 Comments on Reclaimed Wood Straight Outta Bklyn

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While searching for porch flooring I came across a reclaimed lumber company that gets it’s wood from places such as exotic Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.

Well, it IS exotic woods like Ipe and Kumaru. New York City is the largest consumer of tropical woods for boardwalks, benches and other outdoor uses. The city has curbed the use of these woods due to protests from environmental groups, but not completely. The reclaimed Ipe is a way to use these woods sustainably.

So, enter Sawkill Lumber. Partners Alan Solomon and Klaas Armster of Solomon Wood and Armster Lumber have inventory from the Coney Island and Rockaway boardwalks as well as from those water tanks you that enhance the NYC skyline.

I haven’t received a price quote yet, but I’m not too bothered for my current project. I suspect this stuff isn’t cheap. I mean, who doesn’t want to say their floor is made from the Coney Island boardwalk?!

So, I wait until I build a deck on the Brooklyn house. If I can’t afford a whole deck, there will be SOMETHING!, a piece of the Coney Island boardwalk in my house.

No matter what the cost.

There’s a sucker born every minute. And I was minute 947823230492734 of 1965.

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