Coney Island, Brooklyn


Coney Island, Brooklyn


Walking back towards Coney Island down the boardwalk
we passed by a wall with a mural.


There is about 5 miles of boardwalk stretching from Coney Island to Manhattan Beach.


Food stands on the boardwalk at Astroland Park.


Walking down the boardwalk, we came across some sort of
school bus storage yard.


Along the boardwalk we also came across several neglected areas where weeds had just taken over the entire space. Obviously Playland closed a long, long time go.


On the beach – lots of local Brooklyn families.


Walking down the pier.


I stopped for a while to watch this ancient Asian man fishing on the pier. He had some sort of chum or bait in a small bag that he put into the large net and then lowered it into the water. After a few minutes he would raise the net and it would be filled with a bunch of tiny silver fish. He’d scoop them out with the small net, dump them in a pail, smash up the chum/bait, put it back in the net, and lower the net back into the water.


These are the fish he caught.


I was looking back towards the shore, looking at the people and the rides. I looked down and saw that right next to my hand was a dried up fish baked on to the pier railing.

For over 100 years people have been flocking to Coney Island for cheap thrills and eats. Back in the day, it was known The Poor Man’s Paradise or as the Nickel Empire, because for 5 cents you could get a hot dog, a knish, or a whirl on an amusement park ride. Coney Island is where the first roller coaster in America was built and where, although it’s disputed, the first hot dog was made.


Brooklyn’s Eiffel Tower, the Parachute Jump, made it’s debut at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. It was operational for many years, but is no longer. In 1977 it was declared a historical landmark.


Farther down the boardwalk there is a building that many mistake for an old bath house. Research shows that it is used to be a restaurant in the Childs restaurant chain. This year it was awarded landmark status. More information here and here.


Some reports I’ve read say that Coney Island is where the hot dog, a sausage wrapped in bread, was invented. Others say that they were served like this in Frankfurt & Austria for hundreds of years before. In either case, a visit to Coney Island wouldn’t be complete without eating one. More on the history of Nathan’s.


Next to Nathan’s was a bar (that we did not go to) serving
Pina Coladas with free refills and having a wet t-shirt contest.


Next to the that bar was a sort of arcade game but with a real person. For a fee, you could shoot at this guy with a paintball gun. As you can tell, this is the classy end of the Coney Island boardwalk.

Yesterday, Mark and I visited Coney Island for the first time and found that today’s Coney Island is a mere shadow of it’s former self. That hotdog will cost you at least $2.50 and a ride on the Cyclone goes for $5. It’s magnitude was less than I’d expected and included a lot more urban decay.


It started to rain, but luckily we were headed indoors to the New York Aquarium. Months ago I saw a women in the subway carrying a tote that said “New York Aquarium” on it and became somewhat obsessive about finding out where it was and visiting it. Now I can let it go.


Seahorses at the aquarium.


One of the underwater viewing areas at the aquarium. The walruses were one of my favorites. They were very active and swimming so close to the window that they touched it.

When the rain started up Mark and I fled to the New York Aquarium for shelter. Overall, a pretty good aquarium, but not quite as nice as the Seattle Aquarium, which I visted recently.


Something Russian for 50 Cents, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn


Um. . Shish Kebab of Lamb Balls?, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn

Also, while we were out there we visited Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, which is commonly referred to as Little Odessa because “it is by the seaside and chock-full of Russian immigrants, who came here in waves over the last century“. Mark & I tracked down a cafe that I found recommended online, but it was pretty pricey and seemed touristy so we left and discovered this little place that had really cheap, really tasty shish kebabs. We ate them while watching Russian boy bands sing & lamely dance on the wide screen TV in the back. This place also had really tasty Russian pear soda. After the shish kebabs we ate big pieces of fried dough, one with meat and one with potato.

Brighton Beach feels like a foreign country. Everything is written in Russian. Our waitress walked up to our table and spoke to me in Russian and seemed a little surprised that I didn’t know it. Do I look Russian? Also in Brighton Beach – towers upon towers of beach front old folks homes and public projects.

It was fun trip out to see a historical destination spot, a neighborhood that made you feel like you were in a foreign country, and to hang out with a good friend I haven’t seen in quite a while.


The Wonder Wheel is a 150 foot tall ferris wheel that was built in 1920 and still runs today.


Astroland USA opened in 1962 and still is in business today. This
is where all of the carnival rides and games are located at Coney Island.

Mark’s photos.

Backing Up is Hard to Do

Holland Tunnel
Holland Tunnel, Tribeca, Manhattan (July 2002)

Rachelle & Ruby
Rachelle & Ruby, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan (July 2002)

Actually, it’s not the backing up, but the backing up in an organized manner that is hard to do. Many thanks to Walt, Mark & Ted for helping me out with the CD burner and the problems I was having with Ruby recognizing it.

Btw, I’m finding some older photos that I didn’t post when they were taken for whatever reason but that I really like so.. there may be a few older photos showing up here soon. Like this photo of the Holland Tunnel intersection that was taken the day that I got my digital camera. And also this photo that I always liked of Ruby and I. Both of these photos were taken in July of last year.

Sometimes I’m So Stup..ah, Flighty

Yesterday

Receptionist on the phone: “Yes, can I help you?”
Me: “I need to make an appointment. I’m experiencing sensitivity on one of my teeth.”
Receptionist on the phone: “Your what?”
Me: “On one of my TEETH.”
Receptionist on the phone: “This is the GYN office!”
Me: “Oh.. uh.. um. . wrong number!”
[CLICK]

Today

Half asleep and with a headache, I get out of the 42nd Street F train station, look down at my watch and curse myself. How did I manage to arrive so early for my 9 a.m. appointment? I walk through Bryant Park up 41st and over to Madison Avenue. Not wanting to sit around up in the dreary dentist’s office waiting room I decide to wait on the street and people watch/daze out while my mind is still foggy, wondering if I can get coffee to wake up and if the dentist would mind if my breath was all .. uh. . coffee-ish.

I look down at my watch. 25 minutes til 9. Too early. Maybe if I can waste 10 minutes they can get me in a little early. I watch people. Pass time. Try not to look out of place. Look down at my watch. 25 minutes til 9. Oh MAN! It’s going to be one of those days. Those ones where you’re so impatient that time stands still. You think 10 minutes has passed and really it’s only 1. I get frustrated with myself. Beee patient…. I know you’re not but you can be if you try. Sigh. Ok. Ohh. There’s a cute business man going to his Madison Avenue office.. and how dare that woman go out in public in leggings with an ass like that!? Ok. it has to be about time to go up now. My head is throbbing. I look down at my watch. 25 minutes to 9. WTF!? I look down at my watch. 25 minutes to 9 and the second hand isn’t moving. THE SECOND HAND ISN’T MOVING. Suddenly my clouded mind clears. My watch is broken!! I rip open my purse and grab my cell phone. 8:58!??! I better get my butt up to the 10th floor or I’ll be late for my appointment!

Modest Mouse

Modest MouseIt’s all coming together. Finally.

Last week I asked Eric, who is usually pretty hip to the music scene, if he liked the band Modest Mouse and he said he’d never heard of them. I thought it was odd because I’ve heard their music and the buzz around the band a fair amount and I’m usually a few steps behind him and a couple other friends I know who are way into indie rock. I went to Michelle’s that night and was hanging out with Doug & Jenny and watching TV and this Nissan ad comes on. And in the background a Modest Mouse song is playing. AHA! Satisfied that I’d solved the mystery, I purchased the song Gravity Rides Everything from the iTunes Music Store and compulsively listened to it over and over (only about 40 times in 1 day).

Today, I was researching the band online and noticed they’re from the Seattle area. Now I’m thinking that I probably heard them a lot when I was out in Seattle and then came back here and heard them on the Nissan commercial and that’s how it all came about.

I never listen to the radio in New York. NEVER. Ok, except if there’s a blackout. While I was in Seattle I became interested in KEXP and started listening to it online here in New York. KEXP plays all kinds of bands and songs that should be, but never are, played on the radio. Bands like The Dandy Warhols, Interpol, Fountains of Wayne, Idlewild, The Chemicals, The Pixies, The Replacements, Travis, Moby, Radiohead, Beck, Bjork, Dashboard Confessional, and.. and.. Modest Mouse. So, you see.. it’s all coming together. And it all makes sense now.

Chelsea Flea Market &
Sketchy Guys Selling Things on 6th Ave

6th Avenue Sale
Shoes for Sale, Chelsea, Manhattan

6th Avenue Sale
The Hipster Doesn’t Want the Bag, Chelsea, Manhattan

6th Avenue Sale
Selling Jewelry Like Drugs, Chelsea, Manhattan

6th Avenue Sale
Who Would Buy This Garbage?, Chelsea, Manhattan

On Saturdays and Sundays, in a parking lot off 6th Avenue between 25th and 25th Streets is the Chelsea Flea Market. On Saturdays and Sundays, on the 6th Avenue sidewalk between 24th and 25th Streets are sketchy street guys trying to sell junk to the flea market crowd. Everything from computer parts to shoes.

The photos above are of the sketchy guys selling things on the street and not of the Chelsea Flea Market. Photos from the flea market here, here, here.

From a woman who barely spoke English at the flea market, I bought a 1954 edition of the Girl Scout Handbook for $2. It belonged to one Jane Marie Bedkowski of Girl Scout Troop No. 4, lead by Gloria Colny and Cecilia Miller of Bayonne, New Jersey. Research has revealed that the 1954 edition of the Girl Scout Handbook is going for between $6 and $8 online, so it’s a good investment I made. Also, worth the $2 just to see the sexist tips the Girl Scouts were teaching to young impressionable women of the day.

At another part of the flea market I browsed a cookbook that was published in 1912. It was so interesting. Recipes calling for pork grease and suet and such different cooking methods and times than we’re accustomed to now. I know I’m going to kick myself for pinching my pennies and not shelling out the $15 the vendor was asking for it. I could have browsed that book for an hour, I think.