Ok so we know you all brushed us off last weekend on the walking tour of Coney Island that was given by the Municipal Arts Society, since their were mostly old Coney Island groupies from the 1950s there (just kidding -- in case any of those people are/were readers). On a serious note though, Joe Svehlak led the tour and provided a wealth of information about the rise, plateau, and subsequent fall of Coney Island's role in American culture (along with many whimsical personal stories that were quite entertaining). We were able to take quite a few interesting photos and have uploaded them onto our Flickr page (see our Flickr link on the right side of the page).From the start of the tour it was clear that the new development plans were a major topic as many of our fellow tourists were asking questions about what would stay versus what will be torn down. But as we were led around the historic neighborhood it became quite apparent to us that Coney Island is in drastic need of a face lift. The buildings are run down, the streets are littered with trash, and there are numerous empty plots of land that are itching to be snatched up once the City officially announces a re-development plan.
That said, a major theme of Mr. Svehlak's tour was that re-development would be good for the area, however placing higher-end and mass culture retailers in the neighborhood would destroy the abrasiveness that Coney Island is known for. This is quite true, although it seems that enough interest has formed and several organizations have come together to help preserve that aspect of the area. The key question left lingering is not a matter of "if", but more likely a matter of "when/how" will Coney Island be redeveloped and the follow-up to that is what type of places can be created to help preserve the originality of the landmark neighborhood.
On the lighter side, we were shocked to find out that Coney Island used to be the "Hollywood" of the East Coast with somewhere near one-million people visiting on a given summer day. One snippet of quirky information that we especially liked was that the area used to have a hotel in the shape of a REAL elephant! Anyhow: you missed a great tour, but we found these documentaries that might suffice: Coney Island short (discovered thanks to our friends at Gowanus Lounge).
Preview of NYU Documentary (Film's site).
