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. The peninsula to the right is Rockaway, Queens .]] Coney Island is a Peninsula , formerly an island, in southernmost Brooklyn , New York City , USA, with a Beach on the Atlantic Ocean . The eponymous Neighborhood is a community of 60,000 people in the western part of the peninsula, with Seagate to its west; Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east; and Gravesend to the north. The area was a major Resort and site of Amusement Park s that reached its peak in the early 20th century. It declined in popularity after World War II and endured years of neglect. In recent years, the area has been revitalized by the opening of KeySpan Park , home to the successful Brooklyn Cyclones Minor League Baseball team. The Cyclones have an enormous cult following, bringing in many fans during spring and summer. GEOGRAPHY Coney Island is the westernmost of the Barrier Island s of Long Island , about four miles long and one-half mile wide. It used to be an island, separated from the main part of Brooklyn by Coney Island Creek , part of which was little more than Tidal Flats . There were plans into the 20th century to dredge and straighten the creek as a Ship Canal , but they were abandoned and the center of the creek was filled in for construction of the Belt Parkway before World War II . The western and eastern ends are now peninsulas. HISTORY The name tower and lagoon in 1907]] The Native American inhabitants of the area called the island ''Narrioch'', "land without shadows", because-as is true of other south shore Long Island beaches-its Compass orientation keeps the beach area in sunlight all day. The map of 1639 by Johannes Vingboon. ( New York State and New York City were originally Dutch Settlements, referred to as New Netherland and New Amsterdam respectively.). As with other Long Island barrier islands, Coney Island was virtually overrun with rabbits, and rabbit hunting was common until the resorts were developed and most open space eliminated. It is generally accepted by scholars Library of Congress New Netherland Website Lists ''Conyne Eylandt'' as Dutch name for Coney Island. "De Nieu Nederlandse Marcurius", Volume 16, No. 1: February 2000. This is the newsletter of the New Netherland Project . Cites New Netherland map labeling "Conyne Eylandt" in 1639 Johannes Vingboon map. that ''Coney Island'' is the English adaptation of the Dutch name, ''Konijn Eiland''. The English name "Conney Isle" was used on maps as early as 1690Robert Morden, "A Map of ye English Empire in the Continent of America", 1690. Coney Island is labelled "Conney Isle". Image of Morden map at SUNY Stony Brook. and by 1733 the modern spelling "Coney Island" was used.Henry Popple, "A Map of the British Empire in America", Sheet 12, 1733. Coney Island is labelled "Coney Island". Image of Popple Map can be found at David Rumsey Map Collection The John Eddy map of 1811 also uses the modern "Coney Island" spelling.John H. Eddy, "Map Of The Country Thirty Miles Round the City of New York", 1811. Coney Island is labeled "Coney I." Image of Eddy Map can be found at David Rumsey Map Collection . Even though the history of Coney Island's name and its Anglicization can be traced through historical maps spanning the 17th century to the present,Refer to maps given above. and all the names translate to "Rabbit Island" in modern English, there are still those who contend that the name derives from other sources. Some say that early English settlers named it Coney Island after its cone-like hills. Others claim that an Irish captain named Peter O'Connor had, in the 1700s, named Coney Island after an island in Ireland. Yet another purported origin is from the name of the Indian tribe (the Konoh tribe) who supposedly once inhabited it. A further claim is that the island is named after Henry Hudson 's "right-hand-man" John Coleman, supposed to have been slain by Indians. Coney Island Gets a Name The resort Coney Island became a resort after the Civil War as excursion Railroad s and the Coney Island & Brooklyn Railroad Streetcar Line reached the area in the 1860s . With the rail lines, Steamship lines and access to the beach came major Hotel s and public and private Beach es, followed by Horse Racing , Amusement Park s, and less reputable entertainments such as Three-card Monte , other Gambling Entrepreneur s, and Prostitution . When the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company electrified the the steam railroads and connected Brooklyn to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge by the at the beginning of the 20th century, Coney Island turned rapidly from a resort to an accessible location for day-trippers seeking to escape the summer heat in New York City's Tenement s. Charles I. D. Looff , a Danish woodcarver, built the first carousel at Coney Island in 1876. It was installed at Vandeveer's bath-house complex at West 6th Street and Surf Avenue. The complex was later called Balmer's Pavilion. The carousel consisted of hand-carved horses and animals standing two abreast. Two musicians, a drummer and a flute player, provided the music. A metal ring-arm hung on a pole outside the ride, feeding small, iron rings for eager riders to grab. A tent-top protected the riders from the weather. The fare was five cents. Nathan's Famous original Hot Dog stand opened on Coney Island in 1916 and quickly became a landmark. An annual Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held there on July 4th since its opening, but has only attracted broad attention and international television coverage during the last decade. In 1915 the Sea Beach Line was upgraded to a Subway line, followed by the other former excursion roads, and the opening of the New West End Terminal in 1919 ushered in Coney Island's busiest era. After World War II, contraction began seriously from a series of pressures. Air Conditioning in Movie Theater s and then in homes, along with the advent of Automobile which provided access to the less crowded and more appealing Long Island state parks, especially Jones Beach , lessened the attractions of Coney's beaches. Luna Park closed in 1946 after a series of fires and the Street Gang problems of the 1950s spilled over into Coney Island. The presence of threatening youths did not impact the beachgoing so much as it discouraged visitors to the rides and concessions - the staples of the Coney Island economy. A major blow was struck in 1964 when Steeplechase Park , the last of the major parks, closed. The builder and New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses actively opposed the "tawdry" entertainment at Coney and discouraged the building of new amusements. Housing projects, for low and moderate incomes, were built in what had been amusement areas, and the aquarium project, where Dreamland once stood, reduced the available area for more traditional amusements. In Coney Island's lowest years there was some incremental improvement in relatively small areas, notably the preservation and later the expansion of what had been the rides area at the back of the Feltman's property as Astroland . The general improvement in New York City's infrastructure, commercial prospects and image after the 1970s fiscal crisis under the mayoral administration of Edward I. Koch helped Coney Island, and many improvements were made under the mayoralty of Rudolph Giuliani , continuing with his successor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg , helped by the Wall Street booms of the 1980s and 1990s. While all of the neighborhood's original amusement parks have long since closed down — Steeplechase being the last in 1964 — one, Astroland , since revived. Astroland gradually expanded and there are now also several organized amusement areas along with a number of independent rides and concessions. Current development Astroland owner Carol Hill Albert, whose family had owned the park since 1962, sold the site to developer Thor Equities in November 2006 for an unspecified amount. Thor proposed a $1.5 billion renovation and expansion of the Coney Island amusement area to include hotels, shopping, movies, an indoor water park and the city's first new roller coaster since the Cyclone. The developers hope to start construction in 2007 and complete the project by 2011. As part of the renovation, they announced that Astroland would close by the end of 2007.See Bloomberg News , November 29, 2006. The Aquarium is also being renovated. "Plans Coming Together For Coney Island Amusement Park Expansion" , NY1, November 14, 2006 THE CONEY ISLAND AMUSEMENTS Between about 1880 and World War II , Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States, attracting several million visitors per year. At its height it contained three competing major amusement parks, Luna Park , Dreamland , and Steeplechase Park , as well as many independent amusements. Today the major parks are (a successful family owned park with over 20 rides located directly on the Boardwalk), 12th Street Amusements, and Kiddie Park. Also, the Eldorado arcade has its own indoor bumper car ride. The Zipper and Spider on 12th Street were closed permanently on September 4, 2007 and dismantling begun, after their owner lost his lease. They are to be reassembled at an amusement park in Honduras .Calder, Rich (2007-09-05) "Ride Over for Coney Classics" New York Post, New York. Retrieved 2007-09-05. Another Coney Island attraction is "Shoot the Freak," in which patrons shoot paintballs at a live human target. Rides , part of Astroland ]] roller coaster.]] Today, the amusement area contains various rides, games such as Skeeball , ball tossing, and a Sideshow ; games of shooting and throwing and tossing skills. The rides and other amusements at Coney Island are owned and managed by several different companies, and operate independently of each other. It is not possible to purchase Season Tickets to the attractions in the area. Three of the rides at Coney Island are protected as designated NYC landmarks and recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.
Other notable attractions include:
Rides of the past
Other parks and venues Coney Island is also the location of the New York Aquarium , which opened in 1957 on the former site of the Dreamland amusement park. In 2001, KeySpan Park opened on the former site of Steeplechase Park to host the Brooklyn Cyclones minor-league baseball team. In August 2006 Coney Island hosted a major national volleyball tournament sponsored by the Association of Volleyball Professionals. The tournament, usually held on the West Coast, was televised live on NBC. The league built a 4,000-seat stadium and 12 outer courts next to the Boardwalk for the event. Its promotional partner is Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment. The beach Coney Island still maintains a broad Sand y Beach from West 37th Street at Seagate through the Coney Island and Brighton Beach to the beginning of the community of Manhattan Beach, a distance of approximately two-and-a-half miles (~4.0 km). The beach is continuous and is served for its entire length by the broad Riegelmann Boardwalk , the subject of the famous song "Under the Boardwalk", first popularized in 1964 . A number of amusements are directly accessible from the land side of the boardwalk, as is the New York Aquarium and a variety of food shops and arcades. The beach is groomed and replenished on a regular basis by the city. The position of the beach and lack of significant obstructions means virtually the entire beach is in sunlight all day. The beach is open to all without restriction and there is no charge for use. The beach area is divided into "bays", areas of beach delineated by Rock Jetties , which moderate Erosion and the force of ocean Wave s. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club http://www.polarbearclub.org/ is a group of people who swim at Coney Island throughout the winter months, most notably on New Year's Day when additional participants join them to swim in the frigid waters. THE COMMUNITIES , walkers stroll along the Coney Island boardwalk.]] The neighborhoods on Coney Island, running eastward are Sea Gate (a private community), Coney Island proper, Brighton Beach , Manhattan Beach and Oriental Beach. Sea Gate is one of a handful of neighborhoods in New York City where the streets are owned by the residents and not the city; it and the Breezy Point Cooperative are the only city neighborhoods cordoned off by a fence and gate houses. Its main Subway Station is called Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and is reached by the New York City Subway trains of the . The three main avenues in the Coney Island community, are (north to south) Neptune Avenue (which crosses to the mainland to become Emmons Avenue), Mermaid Avenue, and Surf Avenue (which becomes Ocean Parkway and then runs north towards Brooklyn's Prospect Park ). The cross streets in the Coney Island neighborhood proper are numbered with "West" prepended to their numbers, running from West 1st Street to West 37th Street at the border of Sea Gate. The majority of Coney Island's population of Coney Island resides in approximately thirty 18- to 24-story towers, mostly comprised of various forms of public housing. In between the towers are many blocks that were filled with burned out and vacant buildings. Since the 1990s there has been steady revitalization of the area. Many townhouses were built on empty lots, popular franchises have set up shop, and Keyspan Park was built to serve as the home for the Cyclones, a minor league baseball team in the New York Mets ' farm system. Once home to many Jewish residents, most of those living on Coney Island today are African American , Italian American , or Hispanic . EDUCATION Coney Island is served by the New York City Department Of Education . The Coney Island neighborhood is zoned to PS 90 (K-5) and IS 303 Herbert S. Eisenberg (6-8). There are no zoned high schools. Nearby high schools include:
MERMAID PARADE The ''Mermaid Parade'', which takes place on Surf Avenue and the boardwalk, featuring floats and various acts, has been produced annually by ''Coney Island U.S.A.'' — a non-profit arts organization which is dedicated to preserving the dignity of American Popular Culture. The group, which was established in 1979, also produces the ''Coney Island Film Festival'', ''Burlesque At The Beach'', and ''Creepshow at the Freakshow'' (an interactive Halloween -themed event), and houses the Coney Island Museum . DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS AND CONTROVERSY towers over the Coney Island boardwalk.]] Development on Coney Island has always been controversial. When the first structures began to be built around the 1840s, there was an outcry to prevent any development on the island and preserve it as a Natural Park . Starting in the early 1900s, the City of New York made efforts to condemn all buildings and piers built south of Surf Avenue. It was an effort to reclaim the beach which by then had almost completely been built over with bath houses, clam bars, amusements, and other structures. The local amusement community opposed the city. Eventually a settlement was reached where the beach did not begin until 1000 feet south of Surf Avenue, the territory marked by a city-owned boardwalk, while the city would demolish any structures that had been built over public streets to reclaim beach access. In 1949, Robert Moses moved the boardwalk back from the beach several yards, demolishing many structures including the city's municipal bath house. He would later demolish several blocks' worth of amusements to clear land for both the New York Aquarium and the Abe Stark ice skating rink. Critics complained that Moses took three times more land than each structure needed, surrounding each with vacant lots that were of no use to the city. Since the 1920s, all property north of the boardwalk and south of Surf Avenue was zoned for amusement and recreational use only, with some large lots of property north of Surf also zoned for amusements only. In 1944, Luna Park was damaged by fire, and sold to a company who announced they were going to tear down what was left of Luna Park and build apartments. Robert Moses had the land rezoned for residential use with the proviso that the apartment complex include low-income housing. In 1953, Robert Moses had the entire island rezoned for residential use only and announced plans to demolish the amusements to make room for public housing. After many public complaints, the Estimate Board reinstated the area between West 22 Streets and The Cyclone as amusement only and threw in 100 feet of property north of Surf Av. between these streets. It has since then been protected for amusement use only, which has led to many public land battles. In 1964, Coney Island's last remaining large theme park, Steeplechase Park , closed. The rides were auctioned off, and the property was sold to developer Fred Trump (father of Donald Trump .) Trump, convinced that the amusement area would die off once the large theme parks were gone, wanted to build luxury apartments on the old Steeplechase property. Instead, he spent ten years battling in court to get the property rezoned. At the lowest point in the battle, Trump organized a funeral for amusement parks in Coney Island. His Steeplechase property included an historic large pavilion that housed most of the park's rides but was now empty. The press was invited to the funeral where bikini-clad girls first handed out hot dogs, then handed out stones which Fred invited all to cast through the stained-glass windows of the pavilion. Then, pronouncing the amusement park dead, he had the pavilion bulldozed. After a decade of court battles, Trump exhausted all his legal options and the property was still zoned only for amusements. He eventually Leased the property to Norman Kaufman , who ran a small collection of fairground amusements on a corner of the site calling his amusement park "Steeplechase Park". But between the loss of both Luna Park and the original Steeplechase Park, as well as a disastrous urban-renewal plan that took place in the surrounding neighborhood where middle class homes were replaced with housing projects, fewer people were willing to visit Coney Island. With attendance dropping, many amusement owners simply abandoned their properties. In the late 1970s, the city came up with a plan to revitalize Coney Island by bringing in gambling casinos, just as had been done in Atlantic City . However, the city's plans backfired when the prospect of selling property to rich casino owners created a land boom where property was bought up and the rides cleared in preparation of reselling to developers. As it turned out, gambling was never legalized for Coney, and, instead of casinos being built, the area ended up with vacant lots. In addition, the city purchased Steeplechase Park in 1979 from Fred Trump and proceeded to evict Norman Kaufman's amusements. By this time, Kaufman had expanded his park and had plans to eventually rebuild the historic Steeplechase Park. He had even bought back the original Steeplechase horse ride with plans to install it the following season. But the city decided they did not want to wait decades for Steeplechase park to be rebuilt and believed they could attract a developer to build a large combination theme park and casino on the site. Instead, that property remained vacant for another five years. opened up in 1896. It currently occupies 14 acres by the sea in Coney Island, and boasts over 350 species of aquatic wildlife.]] In the mid '80s, businessman Horace Bullard approached the city to allow him to rebuild Steeplechase Park. He had already bought several acres of property just East of the Steeplechase Park site including the property with a large coaster called The Thunderbolt as well as property west of Abe Stark rink. His plans called for the combination of his property as well as the Steeplechase property and the unused property on the Abe Stark site as one massive multimillion-dollar theme park based on the original. The city agreed, and in 1986 the state legislature approved the project. However, several bureaucrats held up the project for another two years while the NYC Planning Commission compiled an environmental impact report. In 1987, state senator Thomas Bartosiewics attempted to block Bullard from building on the Steeplechase site. Bartosiewics was part of a group called The Brooklyn Sports Foundation who had promised another theme park developer, Sportsplex, the right to build on the site. Construction was held up for another four years as Bullard and Sportsplex fought over the site. In 1994, Rudy Giuliani took office as Mayor Of New York and officially killed the deal with Bullard. Giuliani claimed he wanted to build Sportsplex, provided it include a stadium for a minor-league team owned by the Mets. But when Giuliani ordered the stadium to be built first, Sportsplex accused the city of planning to build a parking lot on the property earmarked for the Sportsplex construction. Even though Giuliani publicly denied this and promised Sportsplex could begin construction the moment the stadium was finished, as soon as the stadium was completed, Giuliani killed the Sportsplex deal and had the parking lot built. The Mets decided the minor league team would be called The Brooklyn Cyclones and sold the naming rights to the stadium to Keyspan Energy . Executives from Keyspan complained that the stadium's line of view from the rest of Coney Island amusement area was blocked by the now derelict Thunderbolt coaster and considered not going through with the deal. Bullard, now no longer rebuilding Steeplechase Park, had wanted to restore the coaster as part of a scaled-down amusement park. The following month, Giuliani ordered an early-morning raid on the Thunderbolt, claiming that the coaster was in immediate danger of collapse and ordering it bulldozed. The structure that was supposed to be near collapse took many days to be torn down. No connection between the Mets organization and the demolition has ever been proven, but many accuse Giuliani of tearing it down at the Mets' request. In 2003, Mayor ; and the Brooklyn Bridge Park project, which involved the demolition of a building with landmark status. Many feared that the city had already backed Thor's plans and that the entire amusement district would be demolished to make way for the new multimillion dollar resort. Current plans and controversy But things changed in June 2006 when Eek, an architectural design firm working for Thor, released detailed renderings of Thor's planned resort area that now showed luxury high-rise condo towers in place of the hotel with retail on the ground floor. Since the area has both zoning restrictions only allowing amusements and no buildings taller than 260 feet, Thor initially denied any inclusion of condo towers in their plans, and Eek quickly removed the renderings from their site. But not before blogs everywhere published copies of the renderings. Thor quickly released renderings of rides they proposed for their resort, including a steel coaster that would run above the boardwalk, a two-tiered carousel, and a fountain at the foot of Stillwell Av. that would project images of whales and mermaids. Thor then admitted that condos would be part of their resort but claimed that the resort was not economically feasible without the addition of condos. At a public meeting, Thor representatives continued to downplay the condos by claiming that they only wanted to build hundreds of condo units, not thousands. However, while Thor initially said they only wanted to build 575 condos, the number crept up to 975, which was very close to the 1000 units they claimed they were not building. Late in 2006, Thor announced that they had just purchased Coney Island's last remaining amusement park, Astroland , and would be closing it after the 2007 season. Immediately, plans were announced to build a Nickelodeon -themed hotel on the site. Then in January 2007, Thor released renderings for a new amusement park to be built on the Astroland site called Coney Island Park . Critics pointed out that, even though Thor claimed their project would expand the amusement area, Thor had already evicted several acres of amusements from the property they bought and planned to evict the rest of the amusements on their property after the 2007 season as well as closing Astroland. The amusement park proposed for Astroland's site would have to share it with a hotel, and it has not yet been worked out how much of a footprint the hotel would take up of the Astroland property. Meanwhile, the rest of the resort would be condos built on top of retail. They also point out that any amusements that Thor promised would only be built if the condos made a substantial profit. They also underlined that once Thor has built the condos they will not be legally required to build any amusements. Other critics point out that bringing residential into the amusement area would create a conflict between the residents and the remaining amusements and arcades. Since building condos in the area would require rezoning it as residential, then the condo owners could legally have any amusements abutting their homes to be closed down as public nuisances. Meanwhile, the city brought up their own concerns about Thor's plans based on their history with the developers. In 2001, Thor purchased the Albee Square Mall for $25 million claiming they wanted to revitalize it. They said they wanted to give it a Vegas -style makeover and bring in more name-brand retail while maintaining the original vendors that occupied the mall. All they needed was for the city to rezone the property to allow the building of an office tower above the mall. Thor claimed they would need to build the tower to finance the expansion of the mall. But not too soon after Thor got the rezoning they asked for, it was announced that Thor sold the property, zoning changes and all, for $125 million to Arcadia Reality Trust. Arcadia soon after announced plans to demolish the mall and build the tower only with a possible box store on the ground level. Aside from Albee Square, Thor has a long track record of flipping property for a profit and no track record of ever actually building any major project they have proposed in the past. City officials question Thor's motives for wanting the zoning changes inside the amusement zone and fear that once Thor gets those changes that they will flip the property to the highest bidder who in turn will have no obligations to build any amusements. They also point out that Thor had owned many acres of property earmarked for rezoning in Coney but instead sold it for a profit. They also are upset with Thor's hardball negotiation tactics where in the fall of 2006 they bulldozed the amusements on the property they owned even though construction, if allowed, would not begin for another three years and they could have still leased that property for amusements until then. They have also publicly threatened that they are prepared to leave their property idle for the next ten years if necessary until they found a mayoral administration that would go along with their plans, which would mean that most of Coney Island would be vacant lots surrounded by plywood fences. Since the city had already invested millions in the area both on the minor-league stadium and a new subway terminal, turning it into a ghost town would bring a substantial loss to their investments. Then in the winter of 2007, just to show the city that Thor meant business, they began to evict businesses from the buildings they now owned along the boardwalk. But when one of the business owners went to the press with a statement that Thor was requiring their tenants to sign a confidentiality clause that lasted three years, preventing them from publicly commenting on Thor redeveloping the area, Thor reinstated their leases. CONEY ISLAND IN POPULAR CULTURE On stage, screen and video games
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