Coney Island was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy so I wanted to see how it made out. No, we didn't take the train. In case you haven't realized it by now, I avoid the subway at all costs.
Remarkably, we found a spot right across the street from Nathan's at one of those horrible NYC recent additions -- muni-meters. Let me just take a minute here to tell you why I despise those muni-meters. In the past, when you pulled into a parking meter spot you fed the meter quarters for as long as you think you needed. If you found out you needed more time you just popped another quarter in. If you had time left the next driver would be able to piggy-back on your time. Not any more. NYC, in all its glorious wisdom of how they can make yet another buck off of its citizens, installed these muni-meters instead.
Even though there is a parking meter where you park, you must ignore it, and go in search of the "box" which may, or may not be, on the block you park. So if you think, "Wow, I got a great spot right in front of Nathan's!" hold on buckaroo, because you have to search out the muni-monster. We found one almost a block away. It takes credit cards and for now, change. It's 25 cents per 15:00. You put the money in and when done a piece of paper emerges that shows when you have to move your vehicle. You must now walk back the block and put it in your windshield, facing upwards. Last time we screwed up and got hammered with a $50 ticket.
Since my husband had only put $1.00 in, I thought one hour wouldn't be enough time. Tough luck. You cannot add on to the paper you already printed. You must be back to print out another slip when your hour is up. Oh, and forget if you have any time left. The next vehicle that takes your spot has to start from zero. Some blocks don't even have muni-monsters, yet if you park you MUST FIND ONE. I witnessed firsthand folks scratching their heads on Emmons Ave in Sheepshead Bay when they couldn't find one. Everyone thought, well, it must be okay to park here then. WRONG! Not fifteen minutes later I saw 2 NYPD vans pull up and empty out. Every single car on those two blocks got ticketed. What a freaking scam!
Back to Coney Island...
For the most part everything looked okay...there were sections of the boardwalk replaced with something other than wood.
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| The pier is still not open |
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| Bumper Cars weren't open yet either |
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| The clam shuckers on the boardwalk still shuck clams, but we didn't see any corn on the cob stands |
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| This is a new diner right on the Boardwalk |
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| The Parachute Jump and Carousel have changed to NEON lighting! Ack!!! |
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| They sure don't! |
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| The Cyclone is up and running and from what I could see no neon, yet... |
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| This new addition, a "candy store" made me sigh in sadness |
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At least Nathan's is still the same
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An hour was enough, with one minute to spare, so I didn't have to give Bloomberg any more pocket change. All in all I'm glad they rebuilt Coney Island but truth be told, I didn't like the vibe. It's too NEON!!! I guess they have to change with the times for their new target audience, which clearly I am not. I'll have my memories and will hold onto those, but maybe not for long...
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