Coney Island developed as an amusement area about the same time that Brooklyn itself was rising as a major urban center. Surrounded on three sides by water, the site seemed a world away from the “smoky factories, commercial hustle and bustle of downtown Brooklyn” (Snyder-grenier, 167), but C

Today, Coney’s landscape differs from its heyday as a resort amusement center. At the far western end of the island is the private neighborhood of Sea Gate. Brighton Beach is largely residential, filled with rows of apartment buildings and homes to long-time Jewish residents as well as thousands of recent Soviet immigrants. Manhattan Beach, once the site of the exclusive Manhattan Beach and Oriental hotels, is now a neighborhood of expensive homes. Although Coney’s twenty oceanfront blocks of amusements have shrunk to three, the old Coney Island spirit lives on.

In 1920’s the subway’s expansion to Coney Island and its nickel fare brought millions of visitors to New York City’s nearest beach. The Wonder Wheel, one of the Coney Island’s landmark attractions, was installed along the Boarded near W. 8th. Its 130 foot diameter wheel carried 150 people in 24 cars. While 8 cars were stationary, 16 cars slid from the inner wheel to the outer wheel and back while it turned. The first section of Coney Island’s boarded, stretching for half the length of the resort, opened. Its wooden planked boardwalk was 80 feet wide and cost $3,000,000. After the summer season ended, Surf Avenue, the Bowery, and several alleys near the Bowery leading to the boardwalk were widened for better fire fighting access. 175 buildings and attractions including Ben Hur Raace, Rocky Road to Dublin (both coasters), Stauch’s Resturant, and Henderson’s Dance hall were razed to make room for improvement. By May 1924, as many businesses rebuilt, Coney Island had a completely different look. In 1927, the 85 feet high Cyclone, Coney Island’s most famous roller coaster opened. It cost Jack and Irving Rosenthal $175,000 to build. It was a fast twister coaster set

Some topics in this essay:
Coney Island, Coney Island’s, Luna Park, Surf Avenue, Gibbons Huneker, York City’s, War II, Italian Jewish, World’s Fair, Brooklyn Manhattan, coney island, luna park, coney island’s, surf avenue, manhattan beach, parachute jump, amusement center, twentieth century, york city, brighton beach,