As I've said before, I love Coney Island. I love the air of decrepitude, cheesy rides, freak shows, a huge ferris wheel, and go carts all adjacent to the board walk. These parts are called Astroland, and the family who has owned it for 40 years has sold it to a developer who plans to level the place. The family plans to keep the adjacent famous wooden roller coaster, the Cyclone. Coney Island is part of New Yorkers' (if not national) identity, a place known to generations of people from all walks of life. In the past few decades, it has also been celebrated by counter culture, with the Mermaid Parade ("Brooklyn's yearly celebration of homemade spangle and semi-nudity" - Village Voice) and Sideshow School. Historically there has been continuous change to Coney Island and I have to accept that. I just hope it doesn't get modernized beyond recognition.
The New York Times has a lovely paean/editorial on the topic, including these gems:
''A spirit of frolic must be manufactured,'' maintained Frederic Thompson, the dreamy impresario of Luna Park, ''and it cannot dwell where straight lines, dignified columns and conventional forms dominate.''
...Coney has remained an urban space; diverse and edgy and even seedy in places, much more like the rest of the city was in the 1970s, rather than the ever shinier, duller New York of the 21st century.
1 comment:
Oh, that makes me so sad! I didn't know they were razing it. Boo!
Post a Comment