Crumbling Coney

Coney Island's classic boardwalk. Photo by Preservator

In the ever-saddening annals of Coney Island, two bummers surfaced this week:

The New York Times reports that 9 boardwalk establishments are losing their leases. And one of The Preservator's favorite sites, Lost City, waxes nostalgic on Ruby's Closing. News like this confirms the fears that the homogenizaiton of Coney Island knows no end.

In other bad news, the Department of Parks and Recreation has proposed replacing part of the boardwalk with concrete. This ticked off Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who trashed the idea in a letter to Parks Commish Adrian Benape. The NY Daily News's coverage (here) said that Parks was trying to comply with the city's policy of reducing use of tropical hardwoods. Surely, Marty says, there's another sustainable option that keeps the boardwalk real. There's a part of me that thinks even if everything else changes at Coney Island, at least there's the boardwalk and the beach. The BOARDwalk (not concrete sidewalk) is part of what makes the place what it is, and speaks to its history. To ditch it is remarkably disrespectful and uncreative.