The Coney Island Boardwalk
FRIDAY, JULY 17TH 2009
AREA MAP

It was a hot, overcast day and the beach was covered in all makes and models of people in their summer skin. The boardwalk had a top layer of trampled food and trash, with little old Asian women picking through the garbage to rescue discarded aluminum cans for recycling. I sat in a plastic patio chair eating cheesy french fries and people watched for an hour.

The boardwalk is endless and has pockets of liveliness and despair. I walked one mile of the approximately three mile long stretch, from Astroland to the Barnum and Bailey Circus. The popular areas offer an endless supply of greasy food and beer - hot dogs, pizza, burgers, et cetera - and tacky entertainment. With the surrounding areas burdened with poverty, crime and overdevelopment, it is difficult to imagine Coney Island in its heyday during the late 1800s and early 1900s.