Even though we’re finally thawing out a little, Coney Island was anything but thawed when we shot these photos. Frigid is one word that comes to mind. The closer one got to the water, the stronger the wind got and the colder it felt. All of which gets at the point of why it’s really difficult to turn any spot near open water in the Northeast into a year-round resort. It has something to do with the bitter cold, a problem that will exist for another five or six decades until global warming makes things a bit more temperate in winter–but, by then, Coney Island will be underwater and Prospect Park will be the beach.