Hard Times In Store for Coney Island?
As the future of Coney Island hangs in the balance, they city is talking about taking concrete steps to address one of the pieces it actually controls–the boardwalk. The city is toying around with three options to replace the tropical hard wood that has made up the boardwalk for the last 86years, reports The Post….
As the future of Coney Island hangs in the balance, they city is talking about taking concrete steps to address one of the pieces it actually controls–the boardwalk. The city is toying around with three options to replace the tropical hard wood that has made up the boardwalk for the last 86years, reports The Post. And while it’s considering both plastic and hardwood planks, word is that concrete is the odds-on favorite. “A full concrete boardwalk is the best way to go from a cost-benefit perspective,” said Liam Kavanagh, the first deputy commissioner of the city’s Parks Department. “It lasts 40 years with little maintenance — about twice as long as wood.” The idea isn’t sitting well with some: “Why don’t they just call it a sidewalk, if they’re going to do it in concrete?” said Dennis Thomas of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club. “There’ll be a huge loss of character.” Others though buy the practicality argument. “I’d rather see anything than the boardwalk falling apart,” said Anthony Berlingieri, who owns Beer Island and Shoot the Freak.
Poured Walk [NY Post]
Photo by ecallender
I’m sorry but I LOVE Coney Island. The stories passed down to me from my Dad about hanging out there as a kid. Reading Henry Miller and his depictions. Getting my first Seafood Platter of the season from Nathans. The smell of the salt air. Buying Ice Cold “Butt-wiser” and “Pessis” from the vendors on the beach. Taking the cold plunge into the surf. Walking all the way down the boardwalk in either direction. Riding back on the train smelling of dried salt water and suntan lotion.
I feel alive when I go there. I’m filled with the history and enormity of past. It’s almost like visiting a graveyard and feeling the presence of the dead. It’s magical to me and it literally chokes me up to think of it becoming some privatized behemoth.
Oh yeah, concrete would be a travesty. It needs to remain a BOARDwalk.
isnt the rockaways a really dangerous area tho?
*rob*
ENY and FSRQ;
Agreed that the Boardwalk should be maintained.
I have to say, though, that for my money I prefer the Rockaways. In fact I took a drive there on Sunday to get some fresh air. The thing I like about the Rockaways is that you feel like you’re leaving the city. When you drive down Flatbush Ave south of Ave. U towards the Gil Hodges bridge, you feel like you are in the country – even though only a few miles up the street you are in the heart of the city.
I like the area around Beach 95th Street, where Robert Moses built a beautiful esplanade/boardwalk complex. I recommend that area to all.
By the way, there is also some fantastic development going on in the Rockaways, particularly in the Arverne area. It’s great to see the Rockaways being revived. Hopefully, the same will happen one day for CI.
Ok sure CI – as in the Boardwalk and amusements is a $hit hole but I think may of you are missing the main attraction – the beach – which is reasonably nice (the sand) and the water (which is great).
Biff—born and partially raised in Sheepshead Bay. Though we moved away when my dad got an academic job at a big University in the middle Atlantic region, I continued to spend a lot of time in Sheepshead Bay through my childhood and actually lived there with my Grandma when I first moved to NYC as an adult in 92.
Benson is right, it’s been dying a slow death since the 1960s. It’s a sad shadow of what it once was, even at that time (nevermind the REAL heyday in the 1910s-1940s). As a native Brooklynite, the name itself evokes great memories. In any event, regardless of the fate of the amusement district, Coney Island is still a community fronted by the ocean. I think the need for an intact boardwalk is clear. If concrete is the most efficient option, that would be OK. But there is a need for a boardwalk, regardless of what happens to the entertainment aspect.
Snark, thank you for the links. Those pieces are stunning.
DeLepp, I haven’t yet made it to a Cyclones game, but am going to try my best this year.
wasder, were you born in New York?
Well, Benson, I wouldn’t say that I am speaking the truth. *My* truth perhaps, ie, my opinion, that’s all. Some people obviously love it the way it is.
I did go to Coney a bunch as a kid in the 70’s and I do love it. I used to wander there in the winter in the early 90’s and loved the relics and windblown solitude. But now that Sitt has ruined it it truly is sad. there are very few of the little things I used to love. The amazing Carousel on Surf Ave is gone, the Hell Hole (which I did a water color of once) gone, the log flume, all of the other rides except the Wonder Wheel (which is and always will be truly awesome) and the Cyclone. but yes some of you should go for the Mermaid Parade and ride the Cyclone and WOnder Wheel on a lovely June day and you will get some of the flavor. FOllowed by a trip to Nathans (where you can drink beer–and eat frog’s legs!).