Coney Island

“This place [Coney Island], in its time, both fascinated people and scared them to death.”

History

Coney Island was an amusement park first opened in 1895, in New York. It became famous for having several of the best-known amusement parks in the world. There was Steeplechase Park, Luna Park, and Dreamland.

But throughout Coney Island’s history, there have been multiple controversial events, including electrocuting an elephant on film, villages of minorities (who were kidnapped), and a Midget City.

Big Questions

How is our understanding of Coney Island affected by how it is presented?

Coney Island is presented as a fun, inviting place, where all your wildest dreams can come true. The reality was that Coney Island was sketchy. Mccain’s influence started to lead to the corruption of Coney Island. As time went on Coney Island was developed more and more creating a large array of parks and entertainment.

How has our understanding of Coney Island changed over time?

It has changed dramatically over time. In the beginning, Coney Island was loved and was a benchmark for modernism. It was where people could release stress, but yet not totally. At one point of Coney’s history, people believed that it was corrupted, and was compared to civilizations in the bible that were destroyed by God. Today, Coney Island has lost much of its uniqueness and has become just another amusement park in America.