It is with great displeasure to find out that it appears to be the end of the road for Astroland; Coney Island's amusement park for the past 46 years. As you all know by now from a slice of my current photography concentration, Coney Island is an area I am forever drawn to during my 33 years and life in the Brooklyn and NYC.
For example, whether it was...
* my parents taking me there as a child (Mom taking me to the carousel is something I remember - lucky for you all I cannot find the picture!),
* skipping the school bus to Mark Twain JHS 239 to go to Nathan's with my friend Joe Chung (sorry Mom if you didn't know that until right now!),
* riding the world famous Cyclone, spending some Summer Friday nights with my then girlfriend Vanessa (and now my loving wife and baby momma!) watching the fireworks from our apartment window on W17th Street and Ave Z,
* or my current passion of documenting this wonderful place through my viewfinder and presenting in local art galleries,
...Coney Island, Astroland, Shoot the Freak!, the Childs Building, etc..... are all comfort areas and a place that I love spending time thinking about how it must have been when King's and Queen’s were stopping in on vacation!
Astroland and our beloved Cyclone Rollercoaster, Parachute Jump and Wonder Wheel landmarks are really all we have left of the mystical adventure and fantasy land that has existed before the turn of the century! To see Carol Albert, the owner of Astroland, have to put out a press release about its closing (due to Thor Equities owner Joseph Sitt's plans to gentrify the area with hotels and condos) is very very wrong in my opinion! In a snide and very political statement from Thor Equities, it was mentioned that they are, "extremely disappointed that Carol Albert has decided to give up on the future of Coney Island when her current lease isn't even up for a number of months." This to me shows that these builders who had promised new and improved amusements, in addition to planned hotels and condos, are ignorant to what it takes to manage and operate this type of business. This is what is really "extremely disappointing" because it unfolds some of the real mindshare for the future. Wouldn't you think a firm planning to build the new improved Coney Island and invest in its future while retaining the past would already understand that to manage an amusement park that plans for parts, servicing, site development for new attractions, etc. would have to be sorted out months in advance?
The truly sad event here is that it is now more realistic that a new leaf is turning over in Coney 
Island and not for the better. While the area may gentrify and now be a desirable place to live on the Ocean, go shopping at trendy outlets, order a Venti Mocha Latte at Starbucks, etc..., what is going to be lost is this town's culture. There are other areas of Brooklyn that cater to an enjoyable trendy lifestyle (I visit these places as well), but why clone every subsection of a famous city that thrives on being different, daring, and even burlesque? Another comment I read in the papers was someone saying that there are so many other amusement / boardwalk areas that are nicer, cleaner and can be visited with a short drive from Coney Island, Brooklyn and NYC. This is exactly the point and the problem - WHY!!! Here you have a historical and cultural location that is arguably the mecca of every other amusement area that exists today! Isn't it our social responsibility to preserve one of the very areas that has helped other cities ignite their own successes?
My personal opinion concludes just like how on Sunday, September 7, 2008, Astroland closes forever. I would expect a grand finale from all of you who share in my nostalgia and current excitement and passion. I will hopefully be seeing you in Coney Island this weekend. I, for one, will be there with my camera and capturing this day. If this is truly the last of Astroland and the beginning of the "changes and plans to be" in Coney Island, it deserves to be celebrated more than expressing sadness, anger and disappointment.
Here are some supporting news links ->
9/4/08 NY Post Article - http://www.nypost.com/seven/09042008/news/regionalnews/astroland_is_closing_for_good_on_sunday_127490.htm
Save Astroland (maybe there is still time to make a difference) - http://www.saveastroland.org/
- Dan Marino
dan@danmarinophoto.com
(917) 207-2091
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