Coney Island Boardwalk

Lonely Planet review

About 50min by subway from Midtown, Coney Island sits on the calm Atlantic tides and is fronted by a beachside boardwalk. It makes for a fun day trip with rides, freak show, vodka and beach time. In late 2005, Mayor Bloomberg unleashed a plan to make Coney Island's famous amusement park a year-round attraction.

Coney Island is named after wild rabbits ( konijn in Dutch), which were pretty much all the first Europeans saw on the grassy shoreline in the 17th century. By the end of the 19th century, it had become a den for gamblers, hard drinkers, boxers, racers - some called it 'Sodom by the Sea.'

The 20th century brought a new era with late-night concerts, Buster Keaton films and, best yet, amusement parks. The most famous, Luna Park, opened in 1903 and was a dream world of lagoons, camels and elephants, and rides to the moon - all lit by over a million bulbs (fire eventually claimed it in 1946). By the 1960s, Coney Island's pull had slipped and the 'hood became a sad, crime-ridden reminder of past glories. During the 1980s, a slow, enduring comeback began, with new rides and 'freak shows' (sword swallowers, bearded women, folks with lizard skin etc) trickling in. There is a beautiful baseball stadium on the beach, home of the minor league Cyclone's; equally interesting is Brighton Beach is next door; walk down the beach at Coney Island until you see the large, Russian restaurants on the boardwalk or walk under the elevated train until you hear no longer hear any English spoken and all the stores and restaurants are Russian.