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Coney IslandFrom The Peopling of New York City"The rows of new housing projects were often referred to as Coney Island's 'tombstones.'" -Charles Denson, Lost and Found, 2002
Before Disney World and Six Flags, Coney Island was the place to go for fun and laughter. The place to bring the whole family on a weekend outing or an extended vacation. At the turn of the 20th century, Coney Island was overcrowded with people from all walks of life. As Astroland stays open for one more summer, we look back at the history of Coney Island and all the memories that have been built there. The legacy that Coney Island has built will forever remain in the hearts and minds of the people that have visited the playground; it lives forever in all the different types of mediums that have recorded the splendor and grandeur of the once thriving amusement area. Lawrence Ferlinghetti used the name "Coney Island" out of context and abstractly to describe a collection of poems. They were "a kind of Coney Island of the Mind, a circus of the soul."[1] And that's what Coney Island once stood for. A close escape from all the city life and the ills that plagued mankind. It was here that people interacted with one another from all ends of the spectrum. It was a place that brought people together and for one day, lose themselves in a sea of people, no one different from another - just living, breathing people. Though we have to say goodbye to the the last amusement park for the time being and close this chapter on the Coney Island amusement history of the 20th century, the new development plans are a path to a new future, one filled with new memories waiting to be made. As we wait to see what happens in the next decade or so, there is a Coney Island in the making that will hopefully help do its part in making the world a much brighter place. From the livelihood at the turn of the 20th century, to the fear of destruction during the wars, to rise of brick buildings and slum life, and finally to the lingering present, the Coney Island Group would like to present a small look back on the changing tides that the have brought Coney Island to where it is today.
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