Class #2 Bodacious Brooklyn

Class #2 Bodacious Brooklyn

           

         As I awoke for class today I was excited because I knew that we would be doing to Coney Island. My friend Tim Dombrowski told me that this was one of his favorite classes so naturally I couldn’t wait to see what he was so excited about. I was also a little worried about this class because Mike said that we had to be prepared for a lot of walking (approximately 8 miles worth). And although I am a runner Mike informed me many times that running and walking are not the same thing.

            We met in Penn station as usual and walked one block down to the subway where we got on the Q train. We sat on the Q train for about twenty two stops until we finally reached Coney Island. Recently Coney Island has had some difficulty with its property.  The City of New York came up with a development plan that would completely remodel the area. As we approached the park Mike and Damien stopped and talked to us about the park itself. They even pointed out the first ever famous Nathan’s hotdog stand.

           

Coney Island comes from the Dutch, “who named it Konijn Eiland after the rabbits they found there” (BG 492) .  It originally was its own island but it was filled in to become a part of the land. Originally Coney Island was a beautiful recreational area for New Yorkers. They would come to Coney Island for recreational activities. During the 70’s the area really became really rundown and crime ridden. The beach was dirty, the water was polluted, and crime rate was up. Since then Coney Island has undergone quite a revival since then. The water and beach are now both kept clean.

“Coney Island is no longer the empire of the nickel, the great populist playground, where anyone who could afford the subway could bathe in the Atlantic and enjoy a midway with rides and sideshows.” (BG 491) This area is undergoing a process called gentrification. This is “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). This is currently being fought because the New Yorkers who can afford Coney Island do not want to lose a recreational area so close to home. Waterfront land in New York can go for an outstanding amount of money. The plan is to build high rise apartments, hotels, and to really make it a place where wealthy people would like to go. This, however is controversial because Coney Island has always been the place you go for grungy fun, such as the freak show. This is what makes Coney Island fun, it is part of its history. This whole area might be redeveloped and it might look completely different in 10 years.

            After wandering around Coney Island for a bit and soaking up the experience we made our way back to the city in the F train. We stopped at Brooklyn Heights and explored the transit museum. We learned how the subway was built and all the effort that was put into making the subway, which thousands of people use every day. I was able to tie this trip into Grand central Expressway from the first class. Mike told us then that Robert Moses was considered great for making all of the major highways that are all over New York and Long Island. But, with a closer look at Robert Moses’ work you will see that mass transportation is the way major cities are being built now, not highways and expressways. Simply put Robert Moses was wrong in thinking that individual transportation is the best, most efficient way to travel.

            Finally after the Transit museum where we saw about a hundred different subway cars we made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge. “When the Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 25, 1883 it was justly considered one of the world’s greatest wonders.” (BG 464) Before the Brooklyn Bridge ever existed anyone wishing to cross the East River had to take the Fulton Ferry. The Brooklyn Bridge stands as one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 19th century. One very important aspect of this bridge is that pedestrians are able to cross with relative ease and little interaction with street traffic. The design of the bridge allows pedestrians to cross the bridge on the top, above the streets that the cars travel on.