CONEY ISLAND

Coney Island is a peninsula, formerly an island, in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA, with a beach on the Atlantic Ocean.

Coney Island became a resort after the Civil War  With the rail and steamboat lines, and access to the beach came major hotels and public and private beaches, followed by horse racing, amusement parks, and less reputable entertainments such as Three-card Monte, other gambling entrepreneurs, and prostitution.

Between about 1880 and World War II, Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States, attracting several million visitors per year. At its height it contained three competing major amusement parks, Luna Park, Dreamland, and Steeplechase Park, as well as many independent amusements.

Today the major parks are the late Astroland,which closed in late 2008, Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, 12th Street Amusements, and Kiddie Park.

Three rides at Coney Island are protected as designated NYC landmarks and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

• Wonder Wheel. Built in 1918 and opened in 1920, this steel Ferris wheel has both stationary cars and rocking cars that slide along a track. It holds 144 riders, stands 150 feet (46 m) tall, and weighs over 2,000 tons. At night the Wonder Wheel's steel frame is outlined and illuminated by neon tubes. 
• The Cyclone roller coaster, built in 1927, is one of the nation's oldest wooden coasters still in operation. A favorite of some coaster aficionados, the Cyclone includes an 85-foot (26 m), 60 degree drop.
• The Parachute Jump was the first ride of its kind. Patrons were hoisted 190 feet (58 m) in the air before being allowed to drop using guy-wired parachutes. Although the ride has been closed since 1968, it remains a Coney Island landmark and is sometimes referred to as "Brooklyn's Eiffel Tower." Between 2002 and 2004, the Jump was completely dismantled, cleaned, painted and restored, but remains inactive. 

I visited Coney Island just before Astroland closed.  Coney Island and it's amusement parks have a strange atmosphere but there is something about the place that I love.  Partially dilapidated and partially restored, it is a contradiction in itself.  Behind the beach and the park stands a bunch of high rises making for a most unusual skyline.  The rides that are still open are packed with people while the ones that are closed stand deserted not so far away.  There is a feeling of hedonism and abandonment, people having a great time at the fun-fair, mixed with the dregs that society abandoned.....