Ever since my family and I moved to America, we have lived in the Southern portion of Brooklyn. Visiting Brighton Beach was a tradition. The areaâÂÂs large Russian population showed with streets lined with Russian bakeries and elderly women selling perogies.
Even though I have never lived there, had no family that resided there, nor do I have overly favorable feelings towards the dirty, over-crowded streets of Brighton Beach, I still find myself in the neighborhood every so often.
ItâÂÂs the best place to get a jar of pickles and the best place to drink a glass of kvas on the boardwalk.
However, I always find myself ending my trip to Brighton by walking to Coney Island.
Coney Island has always been really close to my heart. I spent my childhood begging my parents to let me go on the suspicious looking rides. It was the place where I ate cotton candy for the first time. NathanâÂÂs was the first place I experienced an all-American hot dog. My dad and I must have spent countless hours, and countless dollars, playing the arcade games only for a little stuffed animal and a few temporary tattoos in return.
I kept returning to Coney Island every summer. What was once a family tradition became a custom hang out with my friends. Not many places can transition like this, but Coney Island held its own even as I saw it diminishing before my very eyes.
Last summer, I volunteered at the New York Aquarium, located in Coney Island and I loved every moment of it.
But the conversation I seemed to have with visitors at least once a day went a little like this, âÂÂConeyâÂÂs just not like it used to be, huh?âÂÂ
ItâÂÂs definitely not. The closing of Luna Park and later Astroland has greatly changed the areaâÂÂs landscape, while other attractions barely hold on.
Vacant shops and eerily empty bumper car cages are the norm.
Now that there are exceedingly ambitious plans underway to rebuild the area to make it a major tourist attraction, many wonder if it is even possible and at what costs does it come?
Will Coney Island lose its kitschy charm in favor of more modern rides and attraction? Will the people who live in this neighborhood suffer when the planned luxury hotels and high-rises are built?
The future of Coney Island is unsure, but whatever happens, I hope that future generations can still experience this place the way it was supposed to be experienced.