This map shows Coney Island in its prime (around 1908). The three major amusement parks: Steeplechase Park in the west; Dreamland to the east; and Luna Park to the north, dominated the neighborhood. Luna Park even expanded across the peninsula to Coney Island Creek. In 1911, Dreamland would burn down in a massive fire. This left all of the area that was once Dreamland to become parkland in the 1910s. Much of the area west of the amusements was once covered with hotels, bath houses, and bungalows (Argano).
One of the most important establishments in the area is the Coney Island Terminal, which was built in 1918. The station boasts how it is the world’s largest rail terminal! The subway station linked all of New York City to Coney Island and emphasized how Coney Island was the “People’s Playground”. The subway encouraged people to go enjoy the cheap concessions and rides of Coney Island with only one meager train fare. It allowed Coney Island to see hundreds of thousands of people on individual days. Sharon Argano, a woman who spent her childhood in the neighborhood’s bungalow community, told us how Surf Avenue was once packed with people up to the street (Argano). The train station was recently rebuilt and restored for new generations of New Yorkers in 2004.
Here is the interview we conducted with Sharon Argano regarding her childhood at Coney Island and the changes she has seen to the neighborhood. Sharon Argano recently retired from a job at one of Coney Island’s elementary schools in which she had for many years. She is also a co-manager at the Sea Gate Beach Club, a nearby country club at a neighborhood that borders Coney Island to the west.
Can you describe how it was like to go to Coney Island for the summers in your childhood? What did it look like?
Going to Coney Island when I was a child was a time I can never forget. I remember so many crowds of people; much more than I see today. We used to go to Bay 14th and 15th, which was straight down the block from Nathans and I remember it was wall to wall people. We used to be able to walk all the way under the boardwalk and they had stores under the boardwalk there and they had the best knishes and other stuff.
What were the amusement parks like back when you were young? Were they in good shape and popular?
The rides were so amazing! We had Steelpechase Park and 4 or 5 great roller coasters. The Parachute Jump and the most amazing slides made out of wood. You could only imagine how much fun they were.
Coney Island has changed greatly over the past several decades. Can you recall how the neighborhood has changed?
I remember when Mayor Lindsay was the mayor he was involved with building most of the projects in Coney Island and that made it very bad. There used to be bungalows and hotels there and that’s all gone. Now they call the area the ghetto.
Was there any resistance to the changes being made to Coney Island and against Robert Moses or other figures that had influence on the neighborhood?
George C. Tilyou was the founder of SteepleChase Park and when he died and the park closed not long after, Coney Island was never the same.
Do you have any knowledge about how Brighton Beach has changed as well? If so, how has Brighton Beach changed and how has its development been linked to that of Coney Island?
Brighton Beach as well as Sheepshead Bay went down hill very fast after Lundy Bros. Restaurant closed. It took a long while before the Russian immigrants moved in and built it up again. It is better but never as great as it was.
How did people react to the change? Was there an adjustment to change? How did you adjust to the changes?
The people that used to go there in the summer and stay at the bungalows and hotels never went back.
You worked at P.S. 329, a local public school in Coney Island, for many years. I imagine that you are familiar with the current community to a certain degree. What did you notice? Is there a distinct culture among Coney Islanders different from other parts of the city?
Still the same. (*)
Are there any issues about the neighborhood or the community?
Always (*)
In what direction do you see Coney Island going and what do you expect to change?
Coney Island has gotten better I only continues to do that.
(*): Sharon Argano began working at the elementary school decades ago after the changes implemented by Robert Moses. To her, the community has always been the same (lower-income people) and the community has had to go through many issues and conflicts.
From the 1940s into the early 1970s, Coney Island went through drastic changes under the leadership of City Planner Robert Moses. He made it difficult for the amusement parks to stay in order to obtain his goal of making Coney Island a “Nickel Jones Beach”. Robert Moses wanted Coney Island to become a resort for the working class that had open space and recreation. Moses had the Boardwalk extended backwards towards the amusements (Bernstein). Luna Park would close in 1944 and Steeplechase Park followed suit in 1964. Newly vacated land was set to become public housing as early on as the early 1950s (Grutzner). Even the hotels and bungalows to the west of the parks were torn down to make way for housing (Argano). Like many other lower income neighborhoods, the area suffered from pollution and economic hardship (Bennett). The amusement parks were central to the neighborhood’s economic success, and newly established parks such as Astroland in 1962 could not fill the role that Steeplechase Park and Luna Park once had. By the 1970s, Coney Island fully transformed into the Coney Island we know today.
Most changes to Coney Island in the last twenty years have occurred around Surf Avenue. 2001 marked the grand opening of Keyspan Park (now MCU Park), the home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. The stadium was built on the unused grounds of the vacated Steeplechase Park; however, Mayor Rudy Guiliani and the developers had the Thunderbolt, a historic roller coaster, bulldozed to make way for it. Joseph Sitt, the owner of Thor Equities, eventually purchased about thirty acres of land on and around Surf Avenue. He got rid of Astroland and many small businesses along Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk to create a new Coney Island. The City of New York and Joseph Sitt agreed to a new zoning plan in 2009 for the community, which allowed new amusements, condominiums, and hotels to be built in the area. New developments in the area include a new Luna Park, chain restaurants such as Applebee’s, and the return of the Thunderbolt roller coaster (which is set to open next year).
Works Cited
Argano, Sharon. Personal Interview. 20 April 2014.
Bennett, Charles G. “Renewal Sought for Coney Area: City Proposes Housing 3,000 Families on140 Acres Now ‘Deteriorating’ Junk Yards in the Area”. New York Times. 10 July 1963: pg. 31. Web. 10 March 2014.
Bernstein, Victor H. “A New Coney to Rise: The Moses Plan is Dovetailed into a Vast Programof Waterfront Improvement How Coney Developed Relieving Congestion A “Nickel Jones Beach”. New York Times. 5 December 1937: pg. 227. Web. 6 May 2014.
Grutzner, Charles. “Luna Park Picked for City Housing: $23,000,000 Project Laid Before Planning Board–Site to Cost $1,500,000”. New York Times. 9 December 1955: pg. 1. Web. 10 March 2014.
PBS. “Zipper: Coney Island’s Last Wild Ride.” PBS. PBS, 2012. Television.
Sargent, Greg. “The Incredibly Bold, Audaciously Cheesy, Jaw-Droppingly Vegasified, Billion-Dollar Glam-Rock Makeover of Coney Island.” NYMag.com. New York Magazine, n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.
