Coney Island Fireworks Part Two

Because I love abstract fireworks, here's a couple more from Coney Island...

Coney Island Fireworks

A couple of shots taken while watching fireworks in Coney Island from the boardwalk...

Fireworks every Friday night in Coney Island at 9:45pm.

Coney Island June 2013

 



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.

The pier is still not open

Bumper Cars weren't open yet either

 

The clam shuckers on the boardwalk still shuck clams, but we didn't see any corn on the cob stands

This is a new diner right on the Boardwalk

The Parachute Jump and Carousel have changed to NEON lighting! Ack!!!

 

They sure don't!

The Cyclone is up and running and from what I could see no neon, yet...

This new addition, a "candy store" made me sigh in sadness

At least Nathan's is still the same

 

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...

I Am a Coney Island Baby

I am a Coney Island Baby. Good, or bad, Coney Island has laid a heavy hand on shaping who I am today.

One day I will write a poem or short story about it, but for today, I will post some pics from last month.

Famous for its rides, especially the wooden-tracked Cyclone, the only rides I ever went on were the bumper cars, haunted house, or house of mirrors. Scraped skin from my ankle once lined the barrel of the fun house as I tumbled non-stop, and cemented my inability to handle even a "calm" ride. It was probably the first time the operator had to ever stop that "ride."

During my younger years the draw for me was the beach, pier and Boardwalk, but mostly the beach.

Now it's the, pier, Boardwalk and food, mostly the food. Nathan's, just as good as it ever was, is still at its original location on Surf Avenue. The Shore used to be a movie theatre.

Nathan's has expanded to the Boardwalk as well.

Because Brooklyn is so small, with only a couple of million folks, my friend and I ran into my husband and his brother while they were enjoying some beer and hot dogs that fine sunny afternoon.

We left them and headed to Ruby's which is right next door. If you read Fractured Facade you may remember Marie reminiscing about her days of going to Coney Island with her grandfather, a regular at Ruby's. In those days, us youngsters didn't get thrown out of bars, but usually found ourselves with coins stuffed in our hands for the Fascination Arcade where we played Skeeball while waiting for our supervision to finish drinking beers and eating clams.

Ruby's has really changed from the dive it once was...No longer dank, dark, barely-filled, or, cheap. Now they charge $6 for a beer, or a glass of wine, and the EuroTrash that has "found" Ruby's thanks to all the publicity it received when it was almost forced to close down, doesn't mind paying it. Never in my life would I have imagined I would use Ruby's and EuroTrash in the same sentence, but alas, if that's what has saved Ruby's from its demise, so be it.

I don't lament the change of Ruby's as much as the ability to call a friend on a Saturday afternoon who will agree with me it's time for a cocktail and a dance to a tune on the jukebox in Coney Island.

After a couple of cool ones, we decided to walk to the end of the pier, the very pier that sometimes was deemed "too long" to walk when we were younger. Like life, it seems much shorter now.

The fishermen and crabbers are still able to spend the day without the need for a fishing license. The odd assortment of characters, boombox music, and slimy stuff, are still lining it.

Young love...

A lonely man...

And a cruise ship (is this the same one from Maine???) sailing in the harbor can be seem depending upon which way I turn.

As we walked back to the car, a flock of starlings circled our heads and flew up to the Parachute Jump.

And just like I did with Grandpa before getting on the subway some 40 plus years ago, I stopped in "our store" to get a treat...

but couldn't indulge in the memory of Grandpa's parting treat to me -- a candy-red jelly apple the teeth of my youth used to demolish.

Ciao Coney Island...I miss you already. At least I still have the memories.