Getting Ready for the Season: Coney Island on My Mind

The young gal laughed as she supported her companion who grasped his chest in mock agony and semi collapse: "No more 'Shoot the Freak'! Where's my Coney Island?" he asked in exasperation.

While it's true that Coney Island is continuing its inexorable journey toward modernity and gentrification, there is a certain charm to its new look. Gone is lots of the grime and grit. (Though public restrooms can still use a major update.) Funny how in the past we mourned the disappearance of the urban funk, in fact it has finally caught up with other parts of NYC and may now once again can be compared as 'Times Square by the Sea"-- more refined and polished commercial identity for the "Coney Island brand" but what's wrong with outposts of Tom's with heavenly flapjacks on the menu or a refurbished Paul's Daughter or a gleaming new Nathan's on the Boardwalk complete with gift shop. New store fronts for all businesses and the happy renewal of the lease for Ruby's Bar. While the absence of ski ball games and the one armed bandit claw prize grabbing machines may signal a sea change perhaps if the Old Lady Fortune Teller machine was still around she might say "look to the future- the more things change the more they stay the same" for after all it is the incredible confluence of New Yorkers in all of our remarkable diversity along with visitors from around the world that make Coney Island the remarkable place that it is. Whether it is new construction at the MCU Park, the guy spending April 1 bungee jumping by the Atlantic, or the recovery work following Sandy on the Boardwalk, Coney Island's world famous boardwalk is reinventing itself, like it was only better.

Of course many citizens of Coney Island like other NYC residents are still recovering from Sandy's destructive natural force. More here http://hfny.org/hurricane/

--Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn