Coney Island beach, amusement parks, and high rises as seen from the pier in June 2016.
Coney Island is a peninsular residential neighborhood, beach, and leisure/entertainment destination of Long Island on the Coney Island Channel, which is part of the Lower Bay in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Coney Island was formerly the westernmost of the Outer Barrier islands on Long Island's southern shore, but in the early 20th century it became connected to the rest of Long Island by land fill. The residential portion of the peninsula is a community of 60,000 people in its western part, with Sea Gate to its west, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, the Lower Bay to the south, and Gravesend to the north.
Coney Island was originally part of the colonial town of Gravesend. By the mid-19th century, it became a seaside resort, and by the late 19th century, amusement parks were also built at the location. The attractions reached a historical peak during the first half of the 20th century, declining in popularity after World War II and following years of neglect. The area was revitalized with the opening of the MCU Park in 2001 and several amusement rides in the 2010s.
Geography[]
Coney Island is a peninsula on the western end of Long Island lying to the west of the Outer Barrier islands along Long Island's southern shore. The peninsula is about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide. It extends into Lower New York Bay with Sheepshead Bay to its northeast, Gravesend Bay and Coney Island Creek to its northwest, and the main part of Brooklyn to its north. At its highest it is 7 feet (2.1 m) above sea level. Coney Island was formerly an actual island, separated from greater Brooklyn by Coney Island Creek, and was the westernmost of the Outer Barrier islands. A large section of the creek was filled as part of a 1920s and 1930s land and highway development, turning the island into a peninsula.
The perimeter of Coney Island features man made structures designed to maintain its current shape. The beaches are currently not a natural feature; the sand that is naturally supposed to replenish Coney Island is cut off by the jetty at Breezy Point, Queens.:337 Sand has been redeposited on the beaches via beach nourishment since 1922-1923, and is held in place by around two dozen groynes. A large sand-replenishing project along Coney Island and Brighton Beach took place in the 1990s.:337 Sheepshead Bay on the north east side is, for the most part, enclosed in bulkheads.
In An American Tail[]
Coney Island makes an appearance in An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island as one of the places Fievel and his friends take Cholena when they are showing her around New York. They ride the Tunnel of Love, leading to the scene where Cholena snubs Tony by having him kiss Fievel instead of herself.
Coney Island makes a second and final appearance in the final scene of An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster when the Mousekewitzes, Tony, and Tiger are spending the day at the beach and discover that Madame Mousey returned to her owner as punishment for terrorizing the mice of Manhattan, and Fievel is sleeping peacefully on the beach towels.