Coney Island: Perception Versus Reality
Diovion Lewis knows what people think of Coney Island if they don’t live there. All they see are Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, amusement parks and the beach. But Lewis knows a different side of Coney Island.
Now 19, Lewis was just 13 the first time he experienced gun violence in Coney Island. “I was running to the store and on my way back, on my block I see someone get shot,” he said. “He’s just laying there on the floor. Everyone’s surrounding him but nobody’s calling the cops, nobody’s calling an ambulance. I’m like can y’all help this man.” This was a traumatic experience for Lewis. He said that after seeing the man get shot his behavior changed: he went straight home from school most days and he didn’t want to hang out outside anymore. He became quieter. Lewis’ parents knew what he had witnessed and would ask him if he was okay. He repeatedly told his parents he was fine, but deep down he was scared. “I kept that to myself,” Lewis said.
While police complaints for burglary and grand larceny have gone down over the past year in the 60th Precinct, which includes Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Seagate, gun violence hasn’t showed much sign of declining. According to complaints gathered by the NYPD in 2019, the 60th Precinct has seen a 300% increase in the number of shooting incidents. As of March 2019 there have been more incidents of gun violence in the area than the previous three years combined.
Coney Island didn’t always have issues with crime. In the early 1900s Coney Island was the destination for families all over New York City. Its decline started during the 1940s with a fire that destroyed much of Luna Park. Then the 1964 World’s Fair came to Queens, which drew visitors away from the amusement parks. As attendance dwindled, crime started to rise. Since then, nearly every decade has seen an attempt to try to revitalize the area, but none have solved the issue of gun violence.
After a particularly violent week one summer, members of the community decided to be proactive in trying to make the neighborhood safer. Mathylde Frontus, now the assemblywoman for the 46 district, is a long time resident and activist. In 2013 she founded The Coney Island Anti-Violence Collaborative. “We are all leaders in this community and we can’t look at ourselves in the mirror and just allow gun violence to take over our community and not do anything,” she said. The collaborative is comprised of Coney Island residents, non-profit organizations and businesses.
Frontus has experienced gun violence first hand. Back in 2000 her neighbor Gary Wong was shot outside his apartment in a robbery gone bad. “It does do something to you psychologically,” she said. “It still lingers with me. It brings a sense of melancholy because it’s unnecessary.”
Keisha Boatswain, the executive director of the Coney Island Anti-Violence Collaborative, describes Coney Island as a “high need” community. “All of the teenagers have been impacted by gun violence,” she said. That’s one reason why the group’s programs use an anti-violence curriculum to address trauma and teach conflict resolution skills to teens and adults.
One of the collaborative’s most recent initiatives was a free 14-week youth film program in partnership with BRIC, a non-profit arts organization. Lewis and 19 other teenagers ranging in age from 14–19 created short documentaries based on their experiences with guns in their community. Lewis’ piece was titled “Coney Island, Perception vs. Reality,” in which he discussed the divide between a tourist’s perception of Coney Island and the people who live there every day. He came up with the idea for the piece while talking with the instructor, Greg Anderson-Elysee. Anderson-Elysee doesn’t live in Coney Island and asked the students “on the low” about what Coney Island was really like. That made Lewis want to explore the idea more.
The students’ films were played at a graduation ceremony on February 26, and the teenagers spoke about how gun violence had changed how they acted and how they interacted with their peers. They also touched on issues of bullying, peer pressure and issues with social media. Another part of the collaborative’s mission is to help create opportunities for these teenagers. At the end of the graduation ceremony Lewis was one of two students who were offered an internship at MCU Park, where the Brooklyn Cyclones play, for the summer. It’s an opportunity which Lewis says he is extremely grateful for.
Lewis said that by opening up about his experiences it made it easier for the younger teens in the program, many of whom looked up to Lewis like a brother, to share their own story. Still, the impact of violence lives on for Lewis. “I wouldn’t say I got over it, but it’s more I just have to live through it,” he said.
