Coney Island, the ancestor of amusement parks
i24NEWS ·
The 3 Minutes POP at the southern tip of Brooklyn, in Coney Island, less than an hour from Manhattan, "the ancestor of all amusement parks," described at the end of the 19th century as "paradise at the end of a subway ticket." David Benaym meets Maïka, a French tourist for whom Coney Island is a must-see: "here, all the cultures come to have fun, it's popular," and "you really find the old New York." From the Ferris wheel, he tells how it all began: the first park in 1895, then the competition, at the start of the 20th century, between three parks set side by side, including Luna Park, the best known, with the Trip to the Moon elevator that lifted visitors 100 meters high. Coney Island is also the birthplace of bumper cars and haunted houses, "a laboratory for great thrills," and of the 1927 Cyclone, then the most impressive roller coaster in history, still standing, like most of the attractions that survived Hurricane Sandy in 2012. After years of decline, between poor attendance and gang wars, the place has become, like a phoenix, "ultra popular" again: a budget-friendly change of scenery in the heart of New York. David Benaym's 3 Minutes POP in Benjamin Petrover's “C'été l'info”, i24NEWS in French, July 18, 2018.