Coney Island is a mixture of a residential neighborhood, beach, and entertainment attraction located on the Southwestern area of Brooklyn. The total area of the land is 442 acres- 4 miles long and .5 miles wide. Its population, as recorded in 2010, stands at 24,711 people; the population density, on the other hand, is 32,952 people per square mile. The dominating race in Coney Island is white with 34% of the population, then Hispanic with 27%, Black with 20%, Asian with 15%, and other for the remaining 2%.

ISSUE 1:

An interesting fact about the people of Coney Island is that not many of them, roughly 46% actually, have an educational attainment of less than a high school degree; approximately 13% graduate with a high school diploma, 11% graduate with a bachelors degree, and 5% graduate with an associates degree. According to my friend Hanna, who lives in the residential area of Coney Island and attends Midwood High School, there are two programs in her school for accelerated students and a collegiate program for zoned students. Due to programs such as these, a lot of attention is taken away from regular students leading to an overall unmotivated student body, which may be the cause of the low educational attainment percentage. A solution to this problem may be the establishment of public charter schools. Charter schools typically have smaller class sizes, giving students more one-on-one time with teachers and finances of charter schools would be taken care of by the public, so that parents are not inundated with large tuition bills.

The first sign of development on Coney Island was in the 1840’s, which included the railroad station, bathhouses, bars, and amusement parks. Ever since then, development on Coney Island has always been a huge controversy between developers and those who wanted to preserve the natural park. A settlement was finally made by the early 1900’s, which states that the beach did not begin until 300 meters from Surf Avenue. Since then Robert Moses had the land of Coney Island rezoned for residential use and in 1949, built the New York Aquarium, which is also the oldest operating aquarium in the US.

ISSUE 2:

In more recent news regarding development on Coney Island, the MCU stadium opened in June of 2001 with the capacity to hold 7,501 people. Initially the stadium was built with grass on the ground but in 2013 all things natural was plastered over with artificial turf. This was a huge complaint to those who enjoyed being on the grassy field during a concert and appreciated nature. I actually went to MCU Park this past summer for an event called Mad Decent Block Party and witness firsthand just how unnatural it is to have a giant concrete field filled with thousands of people. There was trash everywhere, a nuisance level of noise, and no sign of wild life anywhere. Noise is also an ongoing issue at MCU Park, especially during summer concert series. According to New York State law, it is prohibited to amplify sound within 500 feet from a place of worship- there is literally a synagogue across the street. Mayor Bloomberg addressed this issue by changing the law, which states that amplified sound cannot be more than 10 decibels over ambient noise. Unfortunately, enforcement of this law is not taken very seriously considering the fact that noise from MCU Park averages at about 80 decibels.

ISSUE 3:

Speaking of noise control, Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, located between Avenue Y and Voorhies Ave, is reducing noise with sound-absorbing panels. High ceilings, reflective surfaces, and noise produced by heavy machinery create a prefect arena for amplified noise. According to U.S Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the noise levels in the pump room and blower room safe levels where plant workers would be able to communicate with each other. Eckle Industry suggested the installation of sound-absorbing Eckoustic Functional Panels, which help absorb sound and reduce reverberation. In addition to the problem within the wastewater treatment plant, there is an ongoing odor issue in the community due to its close proximity to the neighborhood. To address this problem, Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant is equipped with a heavy duty odor control system but many times it does very little to actually mask the offensive smell. The plant needs to advance their odor controlling system as well as close all tanks so that the smell doesn’t sweep outward.

ISSUE 4:

As I ventured out to Coney Island the first thing I noticed was the hefty crowd of people that were enjoying a nice weekend at the beach. People were walking up and down the boardwalk, buying things from the flea markets, and feasting on various food stands. I saw parents trying to get a hold of their kids, heard screams projecting from the carnival rides, and smelled what was a mixture of seawater, greasy food, and body odor- classic. Something I noticed that I had not noticed before on my previous trips to Coney Island is that there were a lot of recreational fishers. I asked one of the fishers wearing bright orange shorts and Oakley sunglasses, “What kind of fish do you normally catch around here?” Apparently, you can catch a wide range of fish such as bass, fluke, blue fish, and white trout. What troubled me was the number of fishers who were out fishing in just this one area. By the time I walked across Coney Island Pier, I had counted at least ten heads fishing. I thought to myself wouldn’t this kind of frequent fishing mess up the dynamic of the Atlantic Ocean’s fish population? It certainly has. And so, in efforts to keep the fish population abundant and well there is a rule where you can only fish all day before Memorial Day and after Labor Day.