Coney Island

Coney Island is a peninsular residential neighborhood, beach, and leisure/entertainment destination on the Atlantic Ocean in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by land fill. The residential portion of the peninsula is a community of 60,000 people in its western part, with Sea Gate to its west, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and Gravesend to the north.

Coney Island is well known as the site of amusement parks and a seaside resort. The attractions reached a historical peak during the first half of the 20th century, declining in popularity after World War II and years of neglect. In recent years, the area has seen the opening of MCU Park stadium and has become home to the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team, as well as the opening of a new amusement park among several adjacent ones.

Geography

Coney Island is the westernmost part of the barrier islands of Long Island, and is about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide. It was formerly an island that was separated from the main part of Brooklyn by Coney Island Creek, a partial tidal mudflats, but it has since been developed into a peninsula. There were plans early in the 20th century to dredge and straighten the creek as a ship canal, but they were abandoned, and the center of the creek was filled in completely to allow construction of the Belt Parkway before World War II, and it was filled in again in 1962 with the construction of the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge. The western and eastern ends of the island are now peninsulas.

Coney Island (1943 film)

Coney Island is a 1943 American Technicolor musical film released by Twentieth Century Fox and starring Betty Grable in one of her biggest hits. A "gay nineties" musical (set in that time period) it also featured George Montgomery, Cesar Romero, and Phil Silvers, was choreographed by Hermes Pan, and was directed by Walter Lang. Betty Grable also starred in the 1950 remake of Coney Island, named Wabash Avenue.

In 1944, the year after the film was released, it was nominated for an Oscar for Alfred Newman in the category of Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture

The film is also known as: Coney Island in Sweden, L'île aux plaisirs in France, L'isola delle sirene in Italy, San oneiro in Greece, Se necesitan maridos in Spain and Tivolin kaunotar in Finland.

Cast

Coney Island (Massachusetts)

Coney Island is an abandoned island located in Massachusetts Bay in Salem, Massachusetts. It has light growth, with a small salt marsh.

References

Coordinates: 42°31′45″N 70°50′13″W / 42.52917°N 70.83694°W / 42.52917; -70.83694

Coney Island (1991 film)

Coney Island is a 1991 documentary film that traces the history of Coney Island, the westernmost part of the barrier islands of Long Island, New York. The film covers the island's 1609 discovery by Henry Hudson, its 1870s incarnation as a respectable beach destination for city-dwellers and showcase of the new developments ushered in by the machine age, the early 20th century, when amusement parks and innovative attractions attracted hundreds of thousands of people each day, and the gradual demise of the amusements.

The film is narrated by Philip Bosco. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and broadcast nationally on PBS as part of the American Experience program in February 1991.

On-camera appearances include Al Lewis, Vincent Gardenia, Eli Wallach, Elliot Willensky, Frederick Fried and Mae Timpano. Voice-over actors include Judd Hirsch, Nathan Lane, John Mahoney, Jerry Orbach, George Plimpton, Lois Smith, Frances Sternhagen and Andrei Codrescu.

Synopsis

Coney Island began as a resort destination in the early 1830s and gained popularity in the 1860s as advances in transportation reduced the time it took to get there from other parts of New York City. As visitors increased, attractions were added, including a tall observation tower, the Coney Island Elephant hotel, early roller coasters, carousels, and arc lights to enable nighttime swimming.

Coney Island (disambiguation)

Coney Island is a neighborhood and visitor attraction in Brooklyn, New York City.

Coney Island may also refer to:

Places

Bermuda

Northern Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Singapore

United States

Coney Island (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Coney Island is a small amusement park and waterpark located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Anderson Township, on the banks of the Ohio River 10 miles (16 km) east of Downtown Cincinnati. The park is currently owned by Brenda Walker.

History

Coney Island's beginnings date back to 1867 when an apple farmer by the name of James Parker purchased 400 acres (1.6 km²) of land along the shores of the Ohio River. James soon realized in the early 1870s the popularity of the farm's location, and that renting it out was more profitable than his apple orchard. He eventually added a dining hall, dancing hall, and bowling alley. He later sold the land in 1886 for $17,500 to a company called Ohio Grove Corporation headed by two steamboat captains. In time for the opening on June 21, 1886, the name was officially changed to "Ohio Grove, The Coney Island of the West" in an effort to link the park with the famous New York destination. Fortunate enough to be on a riverfront location, riverboat soon became the most popular method of transportation for park visitors. In 1887, "Ohio Grove" was completely dropped from the name as the park became known simply as "Coney Island".