A reader emails over to announce a new e-book about the history of Coney Island, another part of the City quickly being gentrified into a luxury product.
Boing Boing reviews:
Roaming about, ([the author] Professor Solomon) interviews old-timers—searches for antiquities—explores what is left of the amusement area. (Among his finds: a man who remembers seeing the first human cannonball, shot into the air at Coney Island; the remains of Steeplechase Park; and a ride—the Wonder Wheel—that began as a perpetual-motion machine.)
He also provides a history of Coney Island—from its Canarsie Indian days, to its era as a lawless, Tijuana-style resort, to the rise and fall of its amusement parks. On this historical tour, you’ll meet such personages as John Y. McKane (notorious mayor of Coney Island); George Tilyou (amusement-park pioneer); and the Wild Man of Borneo (actually, an actor from the Bronx). And you’ll visit the Pavilion of Fun, French Nudist exhibit, Elephant Hotel, Trip to the Moon, Insanitarium, Tunnel of Love, flea circus, Feltman’s restaurant (where the hot dog was invented), and other vanished attractions.
Our City is changing before our eyes, and it's always been thus. The least we can do is preserve our memories.
