Coney Island

July 22, 2002 12:14 PM

Coney Island, home to the Mermaid Parade, the nation's oldest and best wooden roller coaster, a swell new music festival, and Sideshow freaks so empowered they even teach classes. The park has a rich history, and the future? ...
Disney?
posted by malphigian (12 comments total)

If I may editorialize: NO!, they have midtown, and the rest of the damn country, leave coney alone you damn f*cking mouse.
posted by malphigian at 12:16 PM on July 22, 2002

This guy has "Disney" written all over him. Call up Elton John and have him work up a few "feel good" power ballads for this guy's eventual musicial cartoon.
posted by ColdChef at 12:22 PM on July 22, 2002

Sorry, Disney. I prefer their Bambi.
posted by ColdChef at 12:24 PM on July 22, 2002

Just a quick warning, ColdChef's link is not really safe for work. [Not that I'm complaining.] [Also, it depends where you work.] [Also, it depends on whether or not you're the boss and whether or not your computer faces your office door.]
posted by monju_bosatsu at 12:33 PM on July 22, 2002

sorry bout that. I'm also sorry for saying this: Her name may be Bambi, but I'd sure like to Thumper.*
* I am so, so sorry. Please accept my apology. I only meant it as a funny.
posted by ColdChef at 12:36 PM on July 22, 2002

Disney must be stopped. They would suck all interest and character out of Coney Island. I don't mind development there; heck, I'm going to see the Cyclones this weekend. But DisneyBrooklynWorld would be embarassing.
posted by hackly_fracture at 12:46 PM on July 22, 2002

Um...the Cyclone is not the oldest wooden roller coaster. Per a Discovery Channel show just yesterday, that honor goes to "Leap the Dips" at Lakemont Park in Altoona, PA. As per the Roller Coaster Database it dates from 1902, though it sat idle from '86 to '88. RCDB dates the Coney Island Cyclone to 1927.
posted by dnash at 1:06 PM on July 22, 2002

Dnash, I saw the show, then wondered how it would appear as a FPP, now I know.
posted by thomcatspike at 2:11 PM on July 22, 2002

what no Ferlenghetti on that dog
posted by clavdivs at 4:11 PM on July 22, 2002

Boy, I was saying back in the 80s that it's too bad the place couldn't be made family-friendly again. In those days it really was seedy, garbage on the streets, boarded up stores, whole empty blocks of buildings (possibly the parcels referred to in the article), even inoperative amusement concessions. The elevated train platform (a major terminal for multiple lines) was peeling paint and had large sections partitioned off -- because there was far less traffic than in its heyday. And the broken glass under the boardwalk was frightening. It just screamed urban fear from every direction. The only businesses that didn't ooze seediness and marginality were Astroland, the Cyclone, and Nathan's. It just looked like a place time forgot. I haven't been out East in years, though, so I have to take it at face value that the development is swinging upward.

And the Cyclone may have had "oldest" taken back away from it (I didn't know that), but it is absolutely the best. If you can't ride it yourself, try a Viper at a Six Flags; it's a Cyclone imitator.
posted by dhartung at 10:39 PM on July 22, 2002

I don't think Disney will go anywhere near CI. It may look attractive on a map, but the whole area is pretty gross, and can't be "sterilized" a la Disney. And transportation is a disaster. I think CI, as place of ruins, is safe.
posted by ParisParamus at 4:59 AM on July 23, 2002

Where else but Coney Island would you be able to play a game of "Shoot the Freak"? Five bucks for ten paintball shots at a guy running around a vacant lot on the Boardwalk. No prizes, no points, just pay your money and shoot the freak. Let's see Disney try and top that!
posted by whuppy at 12:06 PM on July 23, 2002