[Photo for GL courtesy of Deborah Matlack] Nevermind that yesterday was one of the colder days of the winter and that it must have been absolutely brutal on the Pier in Coney Island around dusk with the wind coming off the water. GL Contributor Deborah Matlack was out there and this is the magnificent image […]

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Here’s a new website about Coney Island called Gotta Love Coney Island Dot Com. It’s a pretty new endeavor being produced by someone who posts frequently on the Coney Island Message Board. We welcome it because if ever there was a case of “the more the merrier,” Coney Island is it in terms of needing […]

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We respect our friends at the Municipal Art Society and their ImagineConey effort. They have been one of the most vocal groups insisting that the city come up with a interim plan to keep Coney Island viable. Yet, we’re also concerned that as latecomers to the debate–which has been ongoing now for nearly three years–some […]

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A little while ago we ran an amazing photo gallery of weird Coney renderings that are part of the Municipal Art Society’s ImagineConey effort. Check out the slide show above, from Curbed, or go directly to the Curbed post. This stuff is mindboggling. It almost makes up for the Post’s Rich Calder running Curbed’s scoop […]

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The Municipal Art Society, which has injected itself into the Coney Island debate, and has been trying to focus on coming up with some short-term strategies to keep Coney viable (which we feel should be the city’s #1 priority right now, even more important than completing the rezoning) as well as alternative visions, is holding […]

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This is yesterday’s news, because we ran the story on Curbed early yesterday morning, and we’re sure some of the papers are going to be “discovering” the story and having some fun with it today, but The Future of Coney Island website URL was acquired by a Belgian porn entrepreneur. (The Post’s Rich Calder predictably […]

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[Photo courtesy of Sarah is Rad/GL Fickr Pool] This is pretty new we think and we’re trying to figure out the location. It almost looks like Shoot the Freak because of the background, but it couldn’t be.

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If anyone is looking for good news about Coney Island, forget it. About the only positive development we can report is that it appears the city has started work repairing the most decrepit stretch of boardwalk in front of Nathan’s, Shoot the Freak, Cha Chas, Ruby’s, Lola Staar and other shops. The irony is that […]

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Here’s a sad excerpt from Lola Staar’s latest email. We like Lola and appreciate her unbridled–if sometimes over the top–enthusiasm for and boosterism of Coney Island. Once again, her outspokenness has led to a kick in the ass from Thor Equities. This was news on Christmas Eve. But this is the story in Lola’s own […]

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If you invest a couple of minutes of your time today looking at some amazing photos, take a look at the photos in the slideshow below that Jack Szwergold shot from inside Astroland yesterday. There are amazing angles and photos of the iconic rocket that was senselessly removed from the roof of Gregory & Paul’s […]

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[Photo courtesy of Captain Nemo] We have absolutely nothing to add to this.

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[Click to enlarge photo] A very, very kind GL reader sent us this photo of Coney Island in its prime that he purchased years ago. It shows the Steeplechase Pavilion that was murdered by Fred Trump and to its right the Thunderbolt roller coaster, which was slaughtered by Rudolph Giuliani. The date of the photo […]

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As captured by Captain Nemo, who has done everyone a great service by documenting the murder of Astroland in a very methodical fashion. While we feel like throwing up watching this and our ears are almost ringing with rage, we are grateful for your work, sir.

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Holy shit. The Astroland Rocket was removed yesterday afternoon from atop Gregory & Paul’s. Captain Nemo and Pablo Jonesy recorded the sad moment on the Coney Island Message Board. Captain Nemo writes: “It was a sad day, for even the sky was crying. It seemed this wasnt a planned media event. Several photographers seemed to […]

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This is the sad little “shrine” that’s appeared at the boardwalk gate to Astroland in Coney Island, which is in the process of being dismantled. The destruction of this little amusement park at this point in time is pointless, counterproductive and disgusting. All those responsible–and there are many–should hang their heads in shame at what […]

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Anyone who goes to Coney Island knows this dog and his companion. They guard some of the kiddie rides on the Bowery. This one didn’t really seem to have his heart in barking at us on the day we went to play with him.

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[Photo for GL courtesy of Deborah Matlack] This is another one of Deborah Matlack’s series of interestingly colored shots of Coney Island. We love the bleakness of the black and white combined with the very faded touches of color.

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We finally visited Coney Island this weekend, having stayed away for a long time for both personal reasons and because we were depressed by what was going on. What we saw brought tears to our eyes and enraged us. Coney Island in its current state is an absolute disgrace. Every city official involved in this […]

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We finally confronted some ghosts yesterday and went to Coney Island. What we saw brought tears to our eyes, for many reasons. Our overall impression was that a lot of people were in Coney on a frigid day to take pictures of the devastation of the land emptied by developer Joe Sitt, of the FOR […]

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[Photo courtesy of Deborah Matlack] This is another photo shot on New Year’s Day in Coney Island that Deborah Matlack just sent us. It hasn’t been run through Photoshop. Rather she accidentally changed some settings on her camera and this is the gorgeous result. This is Surf Avenue in front of Astroland, looking west.

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[All photos courtesy of Pablo Jonesy/Coney Island Message Board] The latest from Coney Island came yesterday when Dick Zigun of Coney Island USA reported that a firm working for Thor Equities had put up no trespassing signs on buildings that also have huge Thor FOR LEASE signs. (If we had to do PR for Mr. […]

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[Photo courtesy of Rubys Host/GL Flickr Pool] Yes, yes, we realize that yesterday was Polar Bear photo day, but this shot just demanded to be posted. Yah!

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[Photos courtesy of Jim Kiernan]

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