coney island
Coney Island, as the name indicates, was once an island to the south of Brooklyn. Dutchman Johannes Vingboom first named it Koijin Eiland (King’s Island) on a map back in 1639. For centuries, the long beach and grass-covered dunes were rabbit paradise. That was until a spa was opened there in 1829. The first hotel was opened in the same year: Coney Island Hotel. It immediately became notorious for gambling and prostitution instead of for the originally intended relaxing healing waters. When we say “notorious”, we really should be saying “famous”. Indeed, it soon became very “famous”, and more and more people began to flock to Coney Island.
Between 1879 and 1886 three horse-racing tracks were built there and it became the capital of horse-racing and betting until gambling was outlawed in 1908. It then fell into decline and the races eventually disappeared. A new breed of “entrepreneurs”came on the scene and they quickly realized the city’s working classes needed a place to spend their free time. So Coney Island quickly filled with bars, illegal gambling dens, brothels and cabarets. Along with these, an amusement park and circus were also built as an added attraction. Al Capone once worked in the Harvard Inn and Joe Masseria was gunned down in a restaurant there. During the period Charles Feltman invented the hot dog in his Coney Island restaurant. With the establishment of a better train service the number of people making their way out to the island soon rocketed and by 1920, a million visitors a day were setting foot on Coney Island. It became known as The Nickel Empire, the exact cost of the train ride out there. Added to the attraction was the fact that the only public beach in the surrounding area was there. In summer the Municipal Bath House would be jam packed with people. Thanks to their low prices Coney Island was one of the few leisure resorts to survive the 1929 crash and depression.
Its second decline followed WWII when newer ways of enjoying leisure came into vogue and families preferred to go to a local cinema or stay at home and watch TV. Huge project housing areas were built on Coney Island and it became a dangerous place to go. As a result people just stopped going. The beginning of the new century, however, seems to have reinvigorated the island and as well as the beach, the amusement park and circus is back in action. Burlesque shows and other spectacles have been brought back while the place has still managed to retain its character and identity. It’s still a popular destination for workers and immigrants and nowadays it’s also a meeting place for Russian-speaking “businessmen”.
Between 1879 and 1886 three horse-racing tracks were built there and it became the capital of horse-racing and betting until gambling was outlawed in 1908. It then fell into decline and the races eventually disappeared. A new breed of “entrepreneurs”came on the scene and they quickly realized the city’s working classes needed a place to spend their free time. So Coney Island quickly filled with bars, illegal gambling dens, brothels and cabarets. Along with these, an amusement park and circus were also built as an added attraction. Al Capone once worked in the Harvard Inn and Joe Masseria was gunned down in a restaurant there. During the period Charles Feltman invented the hot dog in his Coney Island restaurant. With the establishment of a better train service the number of people making their way out to the island soon rocketed and by 1920, a million visitors a day were setting foot on Coney Island. It became known as The Nickel Empire, the exact cost of the train ride out there. Added to the attraction was the fact that the only public beach in the surrounding area was there. In summer the Municipal Bath House would be jam packed with people. Thanks to their low prices Coney Island was one of the few leisure resorts to survive the 1929 crash and depression.
Its second decline followed WWII when newer ways of enjoying leisure came into vogue and families preferred to go to a local cinema or stay at home and watch TV. Huge project housing areas were built on Coney Island and it became a dangerous place to go. As a result people just stopped going. The beginning of the new century, however, seems to have reinvigorated the island and as well as the beach, the amusement park and circus is back in action. Burlesque shows and other spectacles have been brought back while the place has still managed to retain its character and identity. It’s still a popular destination for workers and immigrants and nowadays it’s also a meeting place for Russian-speaking “businessmen”.
