Coney Island Notes

From The Peopling of New York City

Please visit our additional pages The Coney Island Vision and Coney Island "Action" for more information. In these pages, we'll bring you on a spectacular visual tour of the neighborhood.

Our Pages:
Main Page: Coney Island
Demographics/ Gallery: The Coney Island Vision
Movies: Coney Island "Action"
Amusement Park History: Coney Island History: Riding the Rollercoaster Rails

"Changing economic and social conditions helped to create the basis of a new mass culture which would gradually emerge in the first decades of the twentieth century." - "Amusing the Million" by John F. Kasson, pg. 3

Contents 1 Interview 2 The Early Years 3 Introducing The Problem 4 Turning Points: The advent of Public Housing 4.1 Coney Island: Planning Nostalgic Space 5 Subdivision of the problem 6 Coney Island After World War II 7 Connection between World War II and the Decline of Coney Island 7.1 1961 NY Times Article: David Binder 7.2 1964 NY Times Article: Martin Tolchin 7.3 Amusement Parks of New York: Jim Futrell 7.4 Coney Island: Lost And Found: Charles Denson 8 2000 Demographics 9 A Current Real Estate P.O.V 9.1 Community Overview 10 Destination: Lasting Effects 11 What The Future Holds 12 Maps and Images 13 Random Quotes 14 Newspaper Articles/ Sources 15 Why public housing? 16 Discussion Board 17 PLEASE NOTE

Interview

Here is the Coney Island Interview. I had to upload it directly to the server and link directly to it... - John
This interview was conducted by Derya Gunaydin and Jonathan Lam with four amazing people, who graciously shared their Coney Island experiences with us. Also, a special thanks to Vincenzia D'Amato, without whom this interview would not have been possible.

The Early Years

Introducing The Problem

When did Coney Island STOP being the summer destination spot for working class New Yorkers? Why?

What caused such an illustrious and prominent community to decline in the first place?

The answer?

The advent of Public Housing in Post WW2 America

Turning Points: The advent of Public Housing

Coney Island: Planning Nostalgic Space

Source: homepage.mac.com/jjrivero/coney_island/text/introduction.pdf

For a long time, Coney Island offered a large public forum which was available to almost all classes and ethnicities. Coney's main objective was providing temporary relief from extremely enduring 19th century social conventions. Coney Island allowed for the relaxation of social boundaries and provided people with a portal to escape reality.

Like all good things, Coney's amusement parks eventually lost their glamour and led to the decline of all of Coney Island as a result. There are several socio-economic factors that can be held accountable for the gradual decline of Coney. The amusement parks managed to remain popular through much of the 40s, but could not hold off an inevitable decline. Economic conditions began to deteriorate in the 50s, and as a result, the city began to draw up plans devoting large sections of the neighborhoods to high density residential uses. As a result, plans for housing developments such as Luna Park, Trump Village, and Warbasse, among others, were drawn up by developers.

One would think that the construction of new housing developments would help a struggling community. Concentrated pockets of poverty developed in these projects due to the low income families being brought in. Coney Island of the 60s and 70s would become known for its high levels of crime, arson, and racial unrest. The city's fiscal crisis at this time only made matters worse, causing the area to be neglected and forgotten. Public services and police presence in the community dropped greatly. Over time, people began looking for ways to get out of the area, and those who could leave did just that, leaving the poor behind. The 60s and 70s truly marked the decaying period of Coney Island, something that could have never been imagined during the glory years.

Subdivision of the problem

World War II
After World War I, the treaty of Versailles left Germany with less power and less land. Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, started to claim more land that did not belong to them such as Austria, Sudetenland, and Czechoslavokia. France and Britain turned a blind eye to Germany’s bold advances to prevent a war. However, when Germany invaded Poland, France and Britain declared war on Germany. To avoid a fighting, Hitler signed a ten-year nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union where they agreed to split lands conquered in Eastern Europe. Germany invaded Poland and Soviet Union took the eastern part while Germany took the western part. Meanwhile, Japan and Italy made an alliance with Germany.
On April 9th, 1940, Germany defeated Denmark and then Norway. Germany wanted to attack France, but Germany had to defeat Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium first. Germany was able to complete this mission with the help of Italy. France was attacked and Germany occupied about two-thirds of the country. Next, Hitler set his attention on Britain and hoped to launch an attack. The United States did not enter the war, but passed laws such as the Lend and Lease Act, which supplied Britain wit weapons, but not troops. In addition, U.S. ships guarded British merchant ships traveling on the Atlantic.
Unable to attack Britain, Germany started to attack Eastern Europe. Japan also started conquering land in Asia as well. It conquered the Chinese province of Manchuria and then invaded China itself. The U.S. felt that Japan was threatening Philippines, which was under U.S control, as well as other European controlled colonies, so they cut off vital supplies that Japan needed for its war effort. In retaliation, on December 7th, 1941, the Japanese launched an attack on Pearl Harbor, which devastated the U.S. naval base. As a result, the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War II.
The U.S., France and Britain, also known as the Allies, won The Battle of Midway, which marked the turning point in the war. Germany was forced to surrender after the Allies launched an invasion called D-Day. On the other hand, Japan was able to hold off allied forces. The U.S. decided to end the war quickly and used the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Emperor Hirohito of Japan surrendered after this devastating attack.

ref: Ensor, R.C.K. A Miniature History of the War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1946.

Coney Island After World War II

After World War II and the Great Depression, Coney Island came back with a huge momentum in the late 1940s and early 1950s. “The soldiers, sailors, and marines returning home contributed to the area’s resurgence, and the general infusion of new money and disposable income helped stimulate Coney’s economy and boost the prospects of it merchants.” ^[1] Steeplechase Park, the only remaining amusement park, gained back its popularity as the influx of veterans came back to their homes.
The momentum was short-lived because by the late 1950’s Coney Island began to fall into a full-scale decline. The parks commissioner opposed the cheap amusements that the parks offered and guaranteed that the city did little to maintain this fun zone. “His goal was to allow Coney Island to deteriorate to such and extent that it would encourage business flight and discourage visitors, thus making it an appropriate site for federally funded urban renewal.” ^[2] Urban renewal, also known as “urban removal”, displaced the community’s least fortunate residents and totally destroyed the community before federal funds could be secured to rebuild the area. At this time, middle-class families had the choice to choose other places to spend their leisure time because of better roads, widespread automobile ownership and suburban flight.
“By the early 1960s, the development of low-income housing complexes led to an escalation in gang violence among the youth in the neighborhood.” ^[3] The old fun zone became a place full of crime, which instilled fear into visitors. The black and Puerto Rican population increased in the neighborhood as well as the hostility towards working-class white visitors and residents. Fewer visitors came because of the declining surroundings and attractions to Coney Island. The crimes and tension between different ethnic groups deterred visitors and raised alarm for fear of a riot.
On September 20th, 1964, Steeplechase Park closed down for good. “Steeplechase, the simplest and oldest of the great Coney Island amusement parks, had outlasted the others, but it could not survive the wholesale decline of the neighborhood.” ^[4] In the late 1960s and 1970s, Coney Island became a symbol of urban decay and decline. It was seen as an impoverished neighborhood where drugs, crime, and hopelessness were everywhere and the local government had given up on it. Nonetheless, New Yorkers, especially Brooklynites, never really gave up on Coney Island because even in the worst years, the beaches continued to be crowded on hot summer weekends. In addition, people with limited economic means still went to Coney Island’s beaches and boardwalk for the refreshing sea breezes and the opportunity to swim in the cool Atlantic waters.
“In the last two decades of the twentieth century, Coney Island has experienced somewhat of an upturn. While the neighborhood continues to struggle with poverty, unemployment, and dilapidated housing, there have been signs of recovery as thousands of New Yorkers are rediscovering Coney’s rich history.” ^[5] There are still many attractions that still draw visitors such as the many outdoor concerts, the legendary Cyclone roller coaster, Nathan’s famous hot dogs, and the annual Mermaid Parade. There is also the beach itself, which beckons the new generations to experience a taste of what Coney Island use to be.

ref: Berman, John S. Coney Island: Portraits of America. New York: Barnes & Nobles Publishing, Inc., 2003.

Connection between World War II and the Decline of Coney Island

“The soldiers, sailors, and marines returning home contributed to the area’s resurgence.” With this enormous influx of people, the population of Coney Island after World War II increased greatly. As the population increases, the need for housing increased. However, just coming out of a war, finding an affordable house proved to be difficult. The solution came when the development of low-income housing complexes began in the Coney Island neighborhood. More people such as African Americans and Hispanics moved into these building because they could afford the cheap rent. These low-income housing complexes changed Coney Island from a resort to an impoverished neighborhood because of the people who started to live there. As the housing increased, so did the gang violence among the youth. The crimes as well as the gang violence scared away visitors and kept them away. Coney Island was becoming less and less of an attraction to visitors and people looked elsewhere to spend their spare time.

1961 NY Times Article: David Binder

Source: "It's Not All Fun At Coney Island" 1961: New York Times

Beginning during the post World War 2 years, the mind set of many people changed in and around Coney Island. A once prominent amusement area slowly began to deteriorate with many public officials becoming concerned over the "increasing shabbiness" of the area. As concerns throughout the country turned towards public housing and possible ways for sheltering the increasing population, the need to revitalize Coney's amusement parks seemed to take a back seat.

According to Census Bureau figures from 1961, Coney Island experienced a population decrease from 81,816, to 74, 711 in 1957, to 72, 792 in 1960. Building and city planners began to devise ways to bring people back to the area, and as a result, created many proposals for construction of middle income housing developments. In 1961, at the time these proposals were being considered, Luna Park Village was one of the most interesting ideas. It consisted of five twenty story buildings which would be situated right where the once famous amusement park stood.

Some of the other housing developments included one that was being put together by Frederick C. Trump and would rightfully be called Trump Village. This housing development would be bounded by Neptune Avenue, Ocean Parkway, and west 5th street. the third major development was proposed by a man named Peter Warbasse, and would be located adjacent to Trump Village. According to the article, demolition had already begun to clear the way for construction.

These were not the only public housing projects being situated around Coney Island at the time. Other developments were being considered right on surf avenue, which was once the headquarters of many of the once popular amusement parks that gave Coney Island its fame. All of these developments would drastically change the face and attitude of Coney Island for many many years.

Caption: I found this article very interesting and useful because I live in one of these housing developments. I have lived in Warbasse for my entire life, and all my friends are from Trump Village and Luna Park. It's quite interesting to see from other articles how the proposals for these developments went through extremely long and difficult processes and at times almost never went through. The images included in this passage show three of the housing developments mentioned in this NY Times article. The uppermost image shows modern day Luna Park, located directly behind Astroland, which is entering its final season this summer. The second image shows Trump Village, the housing development which was put together by Frederick Trump, Donald Trump's father. The bottom image shows Warbasse, which is my apartment complex and was developed by Peter Warbasse as mentioned in the article above.

1964 NY Times Article: Martin Tolchin

Source: "Coney Island Slump Grows Worse" 1964: New York Times

Coney Island's decline has steadily continued ever since the peak years of World War 2. In the summer of 1964, Coney experienced its worst season since 1937, which only suffered due to weather related issues. In 1964, concessionaires reported a business drop of 30 to 90 percent from the previous year. As an example, one can look at the actual amusement park rides and see obvious declines in their usage. The Wonder Wheel, which had 12,500 customers July 4, 1947, had just 4,174 patrons the previous memorial day. In 1963, the Wonder Wheel had attracted 10,000 people on average per weekend. In 1964, one year later, that number was down 3,000. The amusement park employees attributed the decline in business to many factors, including hoodlums, racial tension, inadequate parking, and public housing.

Many Concessionaires blamed the growing number of negro visitors to the area for why many white customers may have been reluctant to visit as they normally would have. Also, teenage gangs had grown to be very popular in the area at the time and they were always causing mischief in and around the amusement parks. Inadequate parking could also be a reason why numbers were declining, but this implied a much larger reason. Many of the private parking lots had been replaced by the large housing developments in the area mentioned in the previous article over the previous decade. As a result, the area became much more condensed and could have turned many travelers away. By the looks of it, the public housing projects that were intended to benefit the area, were only creating a larger rift between the old Coney and what was quickly becoming the new.

Amusement Parks of New York: Jim Futrell

Source: Amusement Parks of New York: Jim Futrell

In 1944, a fire broke out in Luna Park and destroyed almost half of the park. This fire marked the end of Luna Park's prosperity, with more fires in 1946 and 1948 completely putting the park to ruins. By this time, the land that Luna Park once occupied was sold to developers with plans of building a housing complex there, which would eventually be named Luna Park Village. This housing complex opened in the late 1950s.

Luna Park's destruction and purchase was just the first of many signs that Coney Island was entering a place of no return. Businesses around the area began to struggle due to less visitors to the area, and more and more chunks of land were being sold to housing developers with the hopes of building several apartment complexes for middle class families. All of this helped contribute to the decline of Coney's amusement era.

In 1953, the land that Dreamland once stood was sold, and in 1957, the New York Aquarium was built in its place. By this time, Steeplechase was the last remaining amusement park in the area. In 1964, as mentioned in an article from the NY Times listed above, was by far the worst season in Coney's history, when it reported drops of up to 90 percent. What were some possible reasons for this drop? Well, increasing crime in the area most definitely contributed, and with the creation of housing developments throughout the area, parking became very limited. By the end of 1964, Steeplechase closed, leaving Astroland (which opened in 1961 to reinvent the area) as the only amusement park in Coney Island.

By the 1970s, Coney was broke due to lack of business. Crime had become a major issue in the area, and the once joyous streets and boardwalk were slowly deteriorating due to lack of interest by the city. Coney's time seem to have come to an end.

Coney Island: Lost And Found: Charles Denson

Charles Denson grew up in Coney Island and spent much of his life by that very beach. His book "Coney Island: Lost And Found" contains many of his recollections of life in Coney, and provides very valuable first hand evidence as to how Public housing contributed in the decline of the Amusement era.

Source: Coney Island: Lost And Found: Charles Denson

Construction of the first apartment complex began in the fall of 1955. The 1950s were a time in which Coney Island's neighborhoods became very tough places to live, including West End. Coney Island Houses, the name given to the initial housing project, was built in West End. It consisted of five fourteen-story buildings, all of which were made with red brick in a utilitarian style. These housing units surprisingly helped the neighborhood and provided a nice place to raise a family for a few years.

Many factors would differentiate Coney Island Houses from its successors. The construction of this development displaced only eight residents and its size did not overwhelm the neighborhood, nor did it block any sunlight like others eventually would. As residents of Coney Island Houses grew wealthier, people began to move out, leaving behind the lower classes of people. These houses, around the late 1950s, were populated mostly by European and Russian Jews, along with blacks and Puerto Ricans.

For over ten years, Coney Island Houses remained the only high-rise apartment complex in the west end. As urban renewal came in and the obsession of public housing grew, the projects were "lost in a sea of buildings." The city came up with many plans for new buildings and continued to fill up the neighborhoods. This excessive construction of buildings destroyed the surrounding neighborhood. As the 1960s came around, the neighborhood was well on its path of deterioration and high crime levels. As those elements increased, residents of Coney Houses withdrew themselves from the community they once embraced. More and more people began leaving the area when the crime wave began.

According to Charles Denson, Coney Island hit rock bottom around 1975. He writes in his book, "NYC was broke, the boardwalk was crumbling, landowners were abandoning their property, pollution closed sections of the beach, and successive fires destroyed historic buildings." The rows of new housing projects were often referred to as Coney Island's "tombstones."

In the early 1960s, Coney Island was slowly being torn apart. Private developers wanted land along the beach for high-rise housing, the government wanted land for urban renewal projects, and racial tensions were creating a major image problem in the area.

The decline of Coney Island seemed to be directly related to the decline of Steeplechase Park. With the numerous urban renewal projects arising throughout the neighborhoods, Steeplechase began its steady decline to nothing. The surrounding neighborhood had been in decline for several years and the park eventually closed in 1964. The park's closure left a large amount of damage to Coney Island. The Tilyou family, which owned Steeplechase, began looking for ways to sell the land, with hopes that the buyer would still maintain the essence of the park in some way. The family received many offers from developers, including one from Fred Trump, with the hope of building twenty-five story apartment buildings in its place.

The Tilyou family ended up selling the land on April 20, 1965 to a man named Paul Futterman. After all was said and done, Paul Futterman was only fronting for Mr. Trump, who hid his identity and purchased the land for $2.2 million.

With the closing and selling of Steeplechase, many people saw it as Coney Island being closed as a whole. Several attempts at regaining glory of Coney were made over the next couple years but nothing seemed to ever work. Not even the opening of Astroland in 1963 could regain the glory Coney Island once had.

The 1970s were a huge period of transition for Coney Island. According to Denson, the changes were unsettling at times, and it seemed as if the entire nation had forgotten about Coney Island. Coney was completely taken apart during this decade. By the middle of the decade, the city had gone broke and the federal government had cut off funding to the area, leaving a wasteland of unfinished project.

The 70s were often characterized as the time in which the battle over the Cyclone took place. The Cyclone was once one of the most famous roller-coasters in the world, and is still in use today (It is now a landmark). The most relevant attack against the Cyclne came from Murray Raphael, who was president of Luna Park Houses at the time. The Cyclone is situated between the New York Aquarium and Astroland Park and across the street from the Luna Park housing development. Raphael told the NY Times that his tenants had been complaining about all the noise coming from the roller-coaster, and as a result, he wanted the ride to be destroyed, which would have destroyed Coney's legacy even more. Raphael did not get his wish, but this provides another good example as to how public housing played a major role in the decline of Coney Island's amusement era.

The Cyclone may have been saved, but the rest of Coney continued to struggle. Most of the businesses along the boardwalk either closed or burned down during the 70s. Coney became known throughout Brooklyn for prostitution. Prostitutes could be seen walking down Surf Avenue every late night, which is still the case today. Franchises were very reluctant about opening places in Coney Island due to the growing levels of undesired qualities. Arson and vandalism had become very commonplace on the boardwalk by this time. A newly opened KFC once had its power lines cut the night before the 4th of July so all the food would spoil for the year's biggest day of business. Word spread and Coney Island became an extremely undesirable place.

Gangs began to develop within Coney Island as another result of the declining years. The most popular gang of the 70s was the Homicides, who many think the movie "The Warriors" was based on.

Despite all of this, some people still traveled into Coney, with its legacy still in their minds and wanting to experience a part of history. Some aspect of the amusement era remained, but in comparison to what it was 40 years earlier, it was not even close.

Before the 1960s, racial issues weren't much of a problem in Coney Island. The area had always been diverse with people of all ethnicities. The Coney Island Chamber of Commerce actively catered to black people, encouraging them to come and take part in the amusement. Violent crime really began to rise during the early 60s. Coney never was the safest of neighborhoods, but really took a turn for the worse during these years.

In 1961, Fred Trump gained control over another large piece of land in a central Coney Island neighborhood often referred to at the time as the gut. Trump's plans involved relocating the residents of the area so he could build his Trump Village high-rise building development. Much of this area had been occupied by poor blacks at the time, with some blue collar Irish and Italians as well. Trump began evicting many of these poor, long time residents for his slightly more expensive project. Trump relocated these poor residents to the long abandoned, summer bungalows in the West End. These bungalow colonies soon became "poverty pockets" of substandard housing.

The immediate effects of this were tragic. Crime rate shot up to unprecendented levels and people tried getting out of West end as quickly as possible, with the new Trump Village and Warbasse high rises being the desired destinations. As apartments were left empty in these pockets of poverty, the poorest and most desperate of people began moving in, causing West end to deteriorate even more.

In 1967, all of West End Coney Island was declared a poverty zone. The "Coney Island West Urban Renewal Program" was developed and decided to completely demolish the area, making way for more housing developments. The major question that rose was who these apartments would be built for. One side pushed for the renewal area to be for middle-income residents, while the opposing side pushed for lower-class residents. Thus far in Coney's decline, low-income housing projects had become centers for crime and trouble. Thus, many council members predicted that this area would fall victim to this low-income death trap as well. Arguments continued over the renewal plan for a while, until in 1968, a deal to build a combination of low-income and middle income housing projects was put in place. These projects would extend from Sea Gate to West 21st Street. This plan would prove to be a major failure. The middle income tenants would eventually flee, and those who couldn't were forced to deal with another oncoming wave of crime, murder, and chaos. As Charles Denson says in his book, those who couldn't flee "became prisoners in their own homes." City budget cutbacks caused further neglect of Coney Island by the city, and as a result, housing police were every limited and crime levels were not getting any better. Much of Coney would continue to be characterized by crime and poverty well through the 1970s.

2000 Demographics

Demographics can be found under the "Coney Island Vision" link at the top of the screen.

A Current Real Estate P.O.V

Source: http://www.prudentialelliman.com/MainSite/Neighborhoods/NeighborhoodDetail.aspx?HCode=CONEYISL

Community Overview

Population Density (ppl / mile): 32,249

Household Size (ppl): 2.48

Households w/ Children: 28%

HOUSING INVENTORY

Vacant: 6%

Rented: 70%

Owned: 25%

HOUSING STABILITY

Annual Residential Turnover: 15%

5+ Years in Residency: 36%

Median Year in Residency: 3.15

POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS

Total People: 49,496

Total Households: 19,256

Median Age: 40.88

EDUCATIONAL INDEX

No High School: 8.1%

Some High School: 10.0%

High School Graduate: 33.3%

Some College: 12.6%

Associate Degree: 8.1%

Bachelor Degree: 18.7%

Graduate Degree: 9.1%

EMPLOYMENT

Blue Collar Work: 20%

White Collar Work: 80%

Median Income: $25,237

CRIME

The national average for each type of crime equals a score of 1.0, so a score of 2.0 would represent twice the risk as the national average, and a score of 0.50 would represent half the risk of the national average.

Murder: 1.34

Rape: 0.88

ROBBERY: 3.09

Assault: 0.39

TOTAL: 1.58

Destination: Lasting Effects

What The Future Holds

Maps and Images

Random Quotes

Bibliographic Information: Title: It Happened in Brooklyn
Author: Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company
Place of Publication: New York
Copyright Date: 1993

I'm pulling every quote below straight from the book above. Don't have a clue how to use them yet, but I read them and some of them are pretty funny. The World War II ones give us an insight of the time, most of which were after the war, and some during.

(Pg. 2) Bill Feigenbaum: The boardwalk in Coney Island was filled with soldiers and sailors. Music blared from the penny arcades. Even though all those terrible things were going on, the mood was up, patriotic.

(Pg. 5) Jerry Stiller: We collected fat from the butcher, melted it down, and put it in a can. Then we brought it to the entrance to Ebbets Field and got into the Dodger game for nothing. It seemed every kid in Brooklyn was there for Fat Day. (What was the significance of Fat Day???)

(Pg. 6) Karl Bernstein: We collected wire for the war from glass milk bottles, saved newspapers and fat, which we exchanged for additional blue ration stamps. My mother sent me to the store with the stamps. The grocer would raise the glass in the dairy cabinet and precisely cut the quarter-pound of butter you were allowed from a big wooden tub.

(Pg. 6) Karl Bernstein: My mother called out the window that Roosevelt had died. I was almost eleven years old, and in my short lifetime President Roosevelt was 'the' president. There never had been another. President Roosevelt - the words seemed to fit together. During the 1944 election, every grown-up I knew was voting for him. All the kids were for him, too. The big rumor was if Dewey became president we would have to go to school on Saturdays and Sundays.

(Pg. 10) Matt Kennedy: The Depression was over, and now the war was over. There was more money. The soldiers and sailors and Marines coming home helped bring about the resurgence of Coney Island. They'd come off the subeway at Stillwell Avenue and rush to the places they frequented, spreading out to the rides. They loved the Cyclone -- especially the Air Force people. They'd spend every nickel that they had, and the rides were a nickel then. If they didn't have any money left for carfare, they'd go to the Sixtieth Precinct, where the police had a special fund to help them.

(Pg. 11) Murray Handwerker: At that time, Nathan's was just hot dogs, hamburgers, frech fries, soft drinkis, chow mein. I had just gotten out of the army, and I saw all the uniformed people coming to Coney Island. I realized the American soldier had been exposed to French food, his tastes had become more sophisticated. I wanted to put in a seafood counter. My father was afraid. Our frankfurter wasn't kosher, but it was kosher-style: all beef, no pork. He was afraid if I put in shrimp and clams, people wouldn't like it. After a while, he said, "All right, if you want to do it, do it. I'm not gonna be around. Do it while I'm away in Florida." So I tried it, and it was a success, and then I brought in delicatessen.
The postwar years were a turning point, you could say -- a time of expansion. Tastes were changing. And I, coming home from the war and going into the business, was part of that scene.

(Pg. 124) Charles Hynes: Sometimes my mother would get me up in the middle of the night and say, "It's so hot. Let's go down to Coney Island." During the war, when gasoline was difficult to get, the car ran on naphtha, and we had all these cans of naphtha in the trunk. It's a wonder we weren't blown up. But we'd make it to the beach, put our blankets on the sand, and go to sleep. How safe it was, sleeping on the beach a summer night. (Naphtha??? --> As Wikipedia states, Naphtha is a petroleum-based chemical that is explosive when it comes into contact with fire. Two common uses of Naphtha is in Camp Fuel and Lighter Fluid.)

(Pg. 34) Bill Feigenbaum: Every Saturday we went to the Surf Theater, in Coney Island. We'd buy our candy before we went in because it was five cents in the candy store and seven cents in the theater. Admission was a quarter -- fourteen cents during the week -- for a main feature, a western, a newsreel, cartoons, and somtehing called the weekly races, usually bicycle races. They used to give out free tickets based on having the right number on your stub. Howie Shumsky, whose big brother was the head usher, won all the time.

(Pg. 34) Alan Blankstein: The movie theaters were the first places to be air-conditioned. In the summer we stayed there the whole afternoon. I'd come out from the cold, dark theater into the blinding sunlight, and it felt like I was being hit by a brick of hot air.

Jon: There are other quotes that I'll try to put up later. I think we should cycle this book around, as it is actually a fun book to read. I think I'm going to hand it off to Chris first since he's doing the history part. No objections right?

Newspaper Articles/ Sources

Why public housing?

Coming out of World War II, Americans must have been through many financial difficulties. Public housing allowed families to afford a home and not be homeless. 18% of American families live in public housing units and with the cheap cost, families can survive on an income less than $3000 a year. Public housing was a means to end poverty because real estate was high during the war and not a lot of people could afford such an expense.

Source: "Public Housing. A Social Experiment Seeks Acceptance" by William H. Ledbetter, Jr. 1967: Law and Contemporary Problems

Discussion Board

To all from Phil (042808): Why not go to Coney and record some audio or video for the page? I can loan the necessary gear.

The sounds of the Boardwalk or the beach might be a nice addition.....

PFN

To group members: I'm thinking about putting this artwork as our banner for our wikipage. It's a popular artwork of Coney Island on the subway posters. Take a look: http://www.mta.info/mta/aft/posters/artcards.html?year=2007

• Jonathan
  • I think that's cool. The idea you posed of using it as the banner for our Main Page is fine by me, ...as long as you know how to do that.
• Chris
  • I think that would look pretty cool.
• Emily
  • I'll ask John and see if he knows how to. It can't be THAT complicated. I'm sure it'll look nice!

PLEASE NOTE

Some things are missing from this page... That's because THEY'VE BEEN MOVED!!! Yes, I moved some of the stuff relating to reference material to the discussion page, please see link on the bottom next to the Edit button.

<Berman, John S. Coney Island: Portraits of America. New York: Barnes &Nobles Publishing, Inc., 2003./> <reference/>