Coney Island
The Friday of my week in NYC was a sunny day, so I thought I’d get some value out of my MetroCard and trek out to the end of the F train in Brooklyn to check out Coney Island.
What a shithole.
I’m sorry New Yorkers, and I know these things go in cycles and they are in the process of redeveloping it but man, what a dump. Like, I’m sure the aesthetic was awesome in the 50s or whenever and even now there’s a certain dilapidated charm but urgh. Most of it was a construction site (looks like two out of the three or four independent theme parks are being torn down and rebuilt and they were re-doing the boardwalk) but even the other bits were ropey. A dozen places selling all the same dozen varieties of cheap fast food, everywhere in the same desperate need of a lick of paint and… well, despite the relative pleasantness of a 22ยบ sunny day, not a hell of a lot else.
The train on the way out terminated at Z Avenue for some reason so I had to walk a few blocks to get there, passing a dodgy church flea market on the way which was briefly entertaining. It was also fun people-watching the obviously unemployed fisherman on the pier but I walked the length and breadth and there were really only a couple of hours in it.
So, fellow travellers without emotional connections to the pace forged by fathers buying you cotton candy there in your youth, give it another couple of years and re-assess before you make the trek. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures.
