![\"coneyisland.jpg\"](\"http://www.rent-direct.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/coneyisland.jpg\")
(Photo from Wikipedia)
I borrowed the title of my post today from Lawrence Ferlinghetti. I always thought that was a great title for a book. I grew up mostly in the West, and I thought Coney Island must be amazingly liberating for a hip San Fransisco poet to use it as his main metaphor for life. When I moved permanently to NYC in the 80s, I took the train (the D, F, N, and Q all will get you there) to see this place for myself.
![\"coneyislandqueue.jpg\"](\"http://www.rent-direct.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/coneyislandqueue.jpg\")
It was kind of tattered then but it gave me insight to how liberating it must have been for city folk from, say, the Lower East Side tenements to see the wide, open sea shore. I walked the boardwalk for hours and paid my respects to the original Nathan\’s and called it a day well spent. (This photo is from my visit in 2005. I love eating Nathan\’s dogs in salty air)
Nowadays Coney Island as a refuge from the city is threatened by (who else?) developers. Thor Equities in particular. If you are a student of NYC history, I urge you to get to the boardwalk this summer before it\’s gone forever. It\’s worth it.
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