Coney Island is a peninsula in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA, with a famous beach on the Atlantic Ocean. As the name implies, it is a former island and is partially connected by landfill to the mainland.

The area was a major resort and site of amusement parks that reached its peak during the first half of the 20th century. It declined in popularity after World War II and endured years of neglect. In recent years, the area has seen the opening of MCU Park and has become home to the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team.

The neighborhood of the same name is a community of 60,000 people in the western part of the peninsula, with Seagate to its west, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, and Gravesend to the north.

Coney Island is the westernmost part of the barrier islands of Long Island, about four miles (6 km) long and one-half mile wide. Formerly it was an island separated from the main part of Brooklyn by Coney Island Creek, part of which was little more than tidal flats. Coney Island has since developed into a peninsula. There were plans going into 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 for construction of the Belt Parkway before World War II. The western and eastern ends are now peninsulas.

The Native American inhabitants, the Lenape, also called the island Narrioch[citation needed] (meaning land without shadows), because, like the other south shore Long Island beaches, its compass orientation keeps the beach in sunlight all day.[citation needed] Although the names for the island in English and Dutch were similar and mutually intelligible (both meaning Rabbit Island), the Dutch name for the island (Conyne Eylandt; Konijneneiland in modern Dutch spelling), is attested earlier and is probably original. This name is found on the New Netherland map of 1639 by Johannes Vingboon. (New York State and New York City were originally a Dutch colony and settlement, named Nieuw Nederlandt and Nieuw Amsterdam.) As on other Long Island barrier islands, Coney Island had many and diverse rabbits and rabbit hunting prospered until resort development eliminated their habitat.

Coney Island is the English adaptation of the Dutch name. Coney was used in English at the time (now "bunny", but surviving in archaic and dialectal contexts) as a word for rabbit. Coney came into the English language through Old French (Conil), which derives from the Latin word for rabbit, cuniculus. The English name "Conney Isle" was used on maps as early as 1690, and by 1733 the modern spelling "Coney Island" was used. J.F.W. des Barre's chart of New York harbor in the Atlantic Neptune, 1779, and John Eddy map of 1811 both use the modern "Coney Island" spelling.

Even though the history of Coney Island's name and its Anglicization can be traced through historical maps spanning the 17th century to the present, and all the names translate to "Rabbit Island" in modern English, there are still those who contend that the name derives from other sources. Also possible is the Gaelic (Irish) name for Rabbit which is Coinín, which is anglicised to Coney.Ireland has many islands named Coney Island, all of which predate this one. Some claim that an Irish captain named Peter O'Connor had, in the 18th century, named Coney Island after an island (Inishmulclohy) in County Sligo, Ireland. Yet another purported origin is from the name of the Indian tribe (the Konoh tribe) who supposedly once inhabited it. A further claim is that the island is named after Henry Hudson's "right-hand-man" John Coleman, supposed to have been slain by Indians.

Due to Coney Island's ideal locale -- easily reached from Manhattan and other boroughs yet distant enough from the Isle and Brooklyn City to provide the illusion of a proper vacation -- it began attracting vacationers in the 1830s and 1840s, thanks to carriage roads and steamship service that reduced travel time from a half-day journey to a mere two hours.

The legend that would become Coney Island began with the construction of the Coney Island Hotel in 1829. The Brighton, Manhattan Beach and Oriental Hotels would open their doors not long after, each resort outdoing the last in swank and seaside elegance.

Coney Island became a major resort destination after the Civil War as excursion railroads and the Coney Island & Brooklyn Railroad streetcar line reached the area in the 1860s, and the Iron steamboat company in 1881.

When the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company electrified the steam railroads and connected Brooklyn to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge at the beginning of the 20th century, Coney Island turned rapidly from a resort to an accessible location for day-trippers seeking to escape the summer heat in New York City's tenements.[citation needed]

Charles I. D. Looff, a Danish woodcarver, built the first carousel at Coney Island in 1876. It was installed at Vandeveer's bath-house complex at West 6th Street and Surf Avenue. The complex was later called Balmer's Pavilion. The carousel consisted of hand-carved horses and animals standing two abreast. Two musicians, a drummer and a flute player, provided the music. A metal ring-arm hung on a pole outside the ride, feeding small, iron rings for eager riders to grab. A tent-top protected the riders from the weather. The fare was five cents.[citation needed]

From 1885 to 1896, the Coney Island Elephant was the first sight to greet immigrants arriving in New York, who would see it before they saw the Statue of Liberty.

Nathan's Famous original hot dog stand opened on Coney Island in 1916 and quickly became a landmark. An annual hot dog eating contest has been held there on July 4 since its opening, but has only attracted broad attention and international television coverage during the last decade.[citation needed]

In 1915 the Sea Beach Line was upgraded to a subway line, followed by the other former excursion roads, and the opening of the New West End Terminal in 1919 ushered in Coney Island's busiest era.

After World War II, contraction began seriously from a series of pressures. Air conditioning in movie theaters and then in homes, along with the advent of automobiles, which provided access to the less crowded and more appealing Long Island state parks, especially Jones Beach, lessened the attractions of Coney's beaches. Luna Park closed in 1946 after a series of fires and the street gang problems of the 1950s spilled into Coney Island.

The presence of threatening youths did not impact the beachgoing but discouraged visitors to the rides and concessions, staples of the Coney Island economy. The local economy was particularly impacted by the 1964 closing of Steeplechase Park, the last of the major amusement parks.[citation needed]

Development on Coney Island has always been controversial. When the first structures were built around the 1840s, there was an outcry to prevent any development on the island and preserve it as a natural park. Starting in the early 20th century, the City of New York made efforts to condemn all buildings and piers built south of Surf Avenue. The local amusement community opposed the city. Eventually a settlement was reached where the beach did not begin until 1,000 feet (300 m) south of Surf Avenue, the territory marked by a city-owned boardwalk, while the city would demolish any structures that had been built over public streets, to reclaim beach access.[citation needed]

In 1944, Robert Moses actively opposed the "tawdry" entertainment at Coney and discouraged the building of new amusements. By 1949, Moses moved the boardwalk back from the beach several yards, demolishing many structures, including the city's municipal bath house. He would later demolish several blocks of amusements to clear land for both the New York Aquarium, where Dreamland once stood, and the Abe Stark ice skating rink. In 1953, Moses had the entire island rezoned for residential use only and announced plans to demolish the amusements to make room for low income housing. After public complaints, the Estimate Board reinstated some areas as protected for amusement use only, leading to many public land battles.[citation needed]

In 1964, Coney Island's last remaining large theme park, Steeplechase Park, closed and the property was sold to developer Fred Trump. Trump wanted to build luxury apartments on the old Steeplechase property and spent ten years battling in court to get the property rezoned. After a decade of court battles, Trump exhausted his legal options and the property remained zoned for amusements. He eventually leased the property to Norman Kaufman, who ran a small collection of fairground amusements on a corner of the site calling his amusement park Steeplechase Park.[citation needed]

But between the loss of both Luna Park and the original Steeplechase Park, as well as an urban-renewal plan that took place in the surrounding neighborhood where middle class houses were replaced with low income housing projects, fewer people visited Coney Island. In the late 1970s, the city came up with a plan to revitalize Coney Island by bringing in gambling casinos, as had been done in Atlantic City. But gambling was never legalized for Coney, and the area ended up with vacant lots.[citation needed]

In 1994, Rudy Giuliani took office as mayor of New York, and supported a plan to build Sportsplex, provided it include a stadium for a minor-league team owned by the Mets. As soon as the stadium was completed, Giuliani killed the Sportsplex deal. The Mets decided the minor league team would be called The Brooklyn Cyclones and sold the naming rights to the stadium to Keyspan Energy. Executives from Keyspan complained that the stadium's line of view from the rest of Coney Island amusement area was blocked by the derelict Thunderbolt coaster. The following month, Giuliani ordered an early-morning raid on the Thunderbolt and had it bulldozed.[citation needed]

In 2003, Mayor Michael Bloomberg took an interest in revitalizing Coney Island as a possible site for the 2012 Olympics. When the city lost the bid for the Olympics, revitalization plans were rolled over to The Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC), which came up with a plan to restore the resort. Shortly before the CIDC's plans were released, a development company, Thor Equities, purchased all of Bullard's western property, sold it to Taconic, and used much of the proceeds to purchase or offer to purchase every piece of property inside the traditional amusement area. In September 2005, Thor went public with a plans to build a large Bellagio-style hotel resort surrounded by rides and amusements. The renderings of the hotel showed it covering the entire amusement area from the Aquarium to beyond MCU Park and requiring the demolition of The Wonder Wheel, Cyclone, and Nathan's original hot dog stand, as well as the new MCU Park.[citation needed]

Late in 2006 Thor purchased Coney Island's last remaining amusement park, Astroland, and announced plans to close it after the 2007 season and build a Nickelodeon-themed hotel on the site. In January 2007 Thor released renderings for a new amusement park to be built on the Astroland site called Coney Island Park. In the winter of 2007 Thor began to evict businesses from the buildings it owned along the boardwalk. But when one of the business owners complained Thor reinstated their leases.[citation needed]

The Municipal Art Society launched the initiative ImagineConey in early 2007, as discussion of a rezoning plan that highly favored housing and hotels began circulating from the Department of City Planning. City Planning certified the rezoning plan in January 2009 to negative responses from all amusement advocates and Coney Island enthusiasts. The plan is currently working through the ULURP process. Thor Equities has said it hopes to complete the project by 2011. The Aquarium is also planning a renovation. In June 2009, the city's planning commission unanimously approved the construction of 4,500 units of housing and 900 affordable units and vowed to "preserve, in perpetuity, the open amusement area rides that everyone knows and loves," while protesters argued that "20 percent affordable-housing component is unreasonably low."

Between about 1880 and World War II, Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States, attracting several million visitors per year. At its height it contained three competing major amusement parks, Luna Park, Dreamland, and Steeplechase Park, as well as many independent amusements.

Astroland served as a major amusement park from 1962 to 2008. It was replaced by a new incarnation of Dreamland in 2009 and of Luna Park in 2010. The other parks and attractions are: Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, a family owned park on the Boardwalk, 12th Street Amusements, and Kiddie Park. Also, the Eldorado arcade has its own indoor bumper car ride. The Zipper and Spider on 12th Street were closed permanently on September 4, 2007 and dismantling began after its owner lost his lease. They are to be reassembled at an amusement park in Honduras.

On April 20, 2011, the first new roller coasters to be built at Coney Island in 80 years were opened as part of efforts to reverse the decline of the park.

Today, the amusement area contains various rides, games such as skeeball, ball tossing, and a sideshow; games of shooting and throwing and tossing skills.

The rides and other amusements at Coney Island are owned and managed by several different companies, and operate independently of each other. It is not possible to purchase season tickets to the attractions in the area.

Three rides at Coney Island are protected as designated NYC landmarks and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Other notable attractions include the following:

In 1897, Coney Island had a new ride open up that fascinated thousands of people, which was created by a George C. Tilyou who had lived his whole life in Coney. His great contribution to the park was the Steeplechase Horse Race, where people rode on wooden horses around the park on a steel track.

Coney Island is also the location of the New York Aquarium, which opened in 1957 on the former site of the Dreamland amusement park. In 2001, KeySpan Park opened on the former site of Steeplechase Park to host the Brooklyn Cyclones minor-league baseball team.

In August 2006 Coney Island hosted a major national volleyball tournament sponsored by the Association of Volleyball Professionals. The tournament, usually held on the West Coast, was televised live on NBC. The league built[citation needed] a 4,000-seat stadium and 12 outer courts next to the Boardwalk for the event. Its promotional partner is Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment. The tournament would return to Coney Island in 2007 and 2008.

In April 2009, Feld Entertainment, parent company to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, announced that The Greatest Show On Earth would perform in Coney Island for the entire summer of 2009—the first time since July 16, 1956 that Ringling Bros. would perform under the Big Top. The tent complex is located on 21st Street on the lot between the boardwalk and Surf Avenue. The show is called The Coney Island BOOM A RING. In 2010, Feld returned with The Coney Island Illuscination at the same location.

Coney Island still maintains a broad sandy beach from West 37th Street at Seagate through the Coney Island and Brighton Beach to the beginning of the community of Manhattan Beach, a distance of approximately 2½ miles (~4.0 km). The beach is continuous and is served for its entire length by the broad Riegelmann boardwalk. A number of amusements are directly accessible from the land side of the boardwalk, as is the New York Aquarium and a variety of food shops and arcades.

The beach is groomed and replenished on a regular basis by the city. The position of the beach and lack of significant obstructions means virtually the entire beach is in sunlight all day. The beach is open to all without restriction and there is no charge for use. The beach area is divided into "bays", areas of beach delineated by rock jetties, which moderate erosion and the force of ocean waves.[citation needed]

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club is a group of people who swim at Coney Island throughout the winter months, most notably on New Year's Day when additional participants join them to swim in the frigid waters.

Coney Island beach serves as the training grounds for the Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers, a group dedicated to promoting open water swimming for individuals of all levels. CIBBOWS hosts several open water swim races each year, such as Grimaldo's Mile and the New York Aquarium 5k, as well as regular weekend training swims.

The Coney Island Mermaid Parade, which takes place on Surf Avenue and the boardwalk, featuring floats and various acts, has been produced annually by Coney Island U.S.A. — a non-profit arts organization which is dedicated to preserving the dignity of American popular culture. The group, which was established in 1979, also produces the Coney Island Film Festival, Burlesque At The Beach, and Creepshow at the Freakshow (an interactive Halloween-themed event), and houses the Coney Island Museum.

Every October since 2000, Coney Island USA sponsors the Coney Island Film Festival.

The annual "Cosme 5K Charity Run/Walk", supported by the "Coney Island Sports Foundation" (CISF), takes place the last Sunday of June on the Riegelmann Boardwalk.

As of 2000 census, there were 51,205 people living in Coney Island. Of those people, 29.3% were Black or African American, 51.2% were White, 18% were Hispanic or Latino, 3.8% were Asian, 0.5% were Native American, 0.1% were Pacific Islander, 7.6% were some other race and 3.7% were two or more races. 70.5% had a high school degree or higher, 20.7% had a bachelor's degree or higher. The median household income as of 1999 was $21,281.

The neighborhoods on Coney Island, running eastward are Sea Gate (a private community), Coney Island proper, Brighton Beach, and Manhattan Beach.

Sea Gate is one of a handful of neighborhoods in New York City where the streets are owned by the residents and not the city; it and the Breezy Point Cooperative are the only city neighborhoods cordoned off by a fence and gate houses.

Its main subway station is called Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue and is served by the D F N Q trains of the New York City Subway. The terminal is the largest elevated metro station in North America with 8 tracks serving the 4 services that use the station. The entire station was rebuilt in 2002-2004 into a modern station with a large solar-panel canopy covering all 8 tracks. The three main avenues in the Coney Island community, are (north to south) Neptune Avenue (which crosses to the mainland to become Emmons Avenue), Mermaid Avenue, and Surf Avenue (which becomes Ocean Parkway and then runs north towards Brooklyn's Prospect Park).

The cross streets in the Coney Island neighborhood proper are numbered with "West" prepended to their numbers, running from West 1st Street to West 37th Street at the border of Sea Gate.

The majority of Coney Island's population resides in approximately thirty 18- to 24-story towers, mostly various forms of public housing. In between the towers are many blocks that were filled with burned out and vacant buildings. Since the 1990s there has been steady revitalization of the area. Many townhouses were built on empty lots, popular franchises have set up shop, and Keyspan Park was built to serve as the home for the Cyclones, a minor league baseball team in the New York Mets' farm system. Once home to many Jewish residents, most of those living on Coney Island today are African American, Italian American, Hispanic and recent Russian and Ukrainian immigrants.

Coney Island is served by the New York City Department of Education.

The Coney Island neighborhood is zoned to PS 90 (K-5) and IS 303 Herbert S. Eisenberg (6-8). PS/IS 288 The Shirley Tanyhill School (Pre-K-8), PS 329 (K-5), PS 188 The Michael E. Berdy School (K-5), PS 100 (K-5), and Mark Twain (6-8) are all schools located in the heart of Coney Island. There are no zoned high schools.

Nearby high schools include:

The neighborhood is served by the Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue station (D F N Q trains) of the New York City Subway. There is also a bus terminal beneath the station. The buses that terminate there are the B68 to Prospect Park, the B74 to the Coney Island-Seagate border at West 37th Street via Mermaid Avenue, and the B82 to Starett City. The B36 runs from the Coney Island-Seagate border at West 37th Street to Nostrand Avenue at Avenue U in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. The X28 provides express service to Manhattan.

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