How Coney Island became the people's playground

Amusement park rides and sideshows, hot dogs, and mermaid parades: Coney Island, a tiny stretch of beachfront in Brooklyn, has left an indelible mark on the world's popular imagination for nearly 150 years. Correspondent David Pogue rides a rollercoaster of history in exploring the allure of the New York seaside resort.
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[@johntirado-glover3574]

Coney Island is my childhood. The memories are enormous. I'm now 62, retired, and living in Los Angeles, but Coney Island will always be home.

[@LucyLady1-di1nc]

Absolutely

[@MichaelDunetz777-qw4jn]

Coney Island is the most magical and happiest place on earth 🌎🌍 And it is where dreams come true.

[@e.l.norton]

😂

[@danwebb7105]

Grew up there from the early 40's to the mid 40'S. IT Was great. First nathans hot dog 5 cents. 7 years old 1st cyclone. Great memories.

[@KCNwokoye]

CBS Sunday specials just keeps gifting us with old school television that is slow, inspiring and insightful. Entertainment of the mind and heart. Thank you ♥

[@conniefallacaro-regeiro4642]

Born and raised and proud!

[@LucyLady1-di1nc]

Brooklyn girl here yay

[@robertschwartz4810]

I love what he said because it's chilling to realize how much of modern life is lived at second hand.

[@bartonpercival2147]

I like how he describes CI as grittyness. Aside from the modern theme parks, the older remaining seaside amusement parks have always had the better old fashioned rides. Where I was born in San Francisco it had a Oceanside amusement park called Playland at the Beach. It was gritty and seedy, but had the old fashioned Coney Island charm. Old vintage amusement rides & great food places. It unfortunately didn’t survive the times and was sadly demolished in 1972 for condos. But they can never take the great memories of my childhood away from me

[@AndrewVOdom]

Sadly so many classic amusement parks were ditched at that same time: Palisades Park in New Jersey and similar ones up in Hull, Mass. It’s like childhood was being thrown out the window for condo cash but probably was a cluster of things like costly insurance; runaway lawsuits; changing demographics ; increased crime and suburbanization. Sad, whatever it was!

[@zoecunningham3019]

Awoken phenomenal memories brought a smile. Happiness for generations to come! Thank you for bringing Coney Island back to life 👏

[@SandyWolf-]

I grew up in Cincinnati we had our own Coney Island! I remember going there as a kid with my grandfather 😁❤

[@richmoves]

What a loving and informative tribute... thanks David Pogue! I'm going to head down to Coney Island next weekend. So glad it's in my city! 🗽🇺🇸

[@gazzelle4]

I hated Coney Island after almost biting my tongue off on the friggin Cyclone about 25 years ago. My family and I spent last Thursday and Friday there. They've done a great job bringing the place back. My 9 year-old loves the candy store (It's Sugar) and everyone else loves the lobster rolls from Paul's Daughter

[@costantinovolpe2092]

Grew up in Gravesend during the 60s and 70s. Went to the beach almost every day and in winter went crabbing off steeplechase pier

[@charlestesoro7902]

Ha! My address back then was 32 Village Road East. Our parish was St Simon & Jude on Ave T & MacDonald Ave.

[@user-vm5ud4xw6n]

Love it when CBS comes up with gens like this. Talk about a throwback! This is like the king of throwbacks!

[@kathydictos4305]

Wow, what an amazing place so much fun to watch🌺

[@FletcherFinance]

Authentic human experience. There's a novel idea.

[@javindean5920]

was just there last night! love Coney!

[@dietcheese2546]

same!

[@iLoveBoysandBerries]

No you weren't. I was there and didn't see you

[@user-nv1er5rk5c]

It will be in your memory forever.

[@MAG320]

Coney Island is BK's backside jewel. Being there a few times, it is crowded if not overcrowded. Definitely a place to spend vacation if you want to come to NYC for a visit.

[@mborges2133]

Clank clank...Warrios come out and play Clank clank.....Warriors....come out and playy CLANK CLANK....WARRIORS, COME OUT AND PLAYIAYYYY

[@poohbear131415]

Road the cyclone when I was 3 Years old. Love throw the coasters ever since Coney island was the best

[@poohbear131415]

Loved the boardwalk Nathan's hot dogs swimming in the ocean over there best times of my life

[@davidlunalozano1074]

A classic and most important:The Warriors turf.❤

[@sandrasoares9262]

Hope to see you soon. Your fan sandra.s Boston mass. Thankyou for your time today And have a wonderful day 😊

[@RevEricHebert]

It is an honor to Work, Live and Play in Coney Island!

[@falirampersad5787]

I was there about a month ago visiting the aquarium and took a walk on the boardwalk 😊🇹🇹

[@FlyingV3rd]

The Warriors home.

[@biggerock]

Bring back Steeplechase Park!

[@bbygrlpt2]

I like Coney Island last time Iwent almost flew out of the Cyclone ride.. so never again. And the ppl that go there.. I mean just be careful. Other than that it’s alright.

[@RyanShull1234567890]

The cyclone has to be the scariest coaster just because of how old it is, when you go down it you’re not secured that well (but well enough) and knowing that if you throw up your hands or stand up you could hit a metal beam is part of it… and it’s just so loud. But really fun

[@Airbubblepodcast]

This is great I gotta go!

[@gevindushi2121]

We got byrons car wash live from Coney Island

[@WhatYaReading]

No mention of the Warriors🤔🤔🤔. Went there this summer. Had a ball.

[@quotationmarksedits]

Seriously, I only clicked on this to see if there was a Warriors clip 😂

[@aquapyro1]

If your gonna compare it to a Disney park, compare Disneyland, not Disney World. Keep in mind the amusement park industry was dying before Disneyland. A Disneyland was made specifically to counter that untrustworthy look that Coney Island and Santa Monica Pier carried

[@bartonpercival2147]

And up the Westcoast SF had Playland at the Beach. In fact Mr. Disney got some of his ride ideas from the owners George & Leo Whitney of Playland fame

[@AndrewVOdom]

You’re right: the decades of the later Florida’s “Disney World” (especially for East Coasters and much of mid-America) have resulted in lazy reporting that forgets the importance of California’s Disneyland as a cultural phenomenon. And yes, this piece mostly avoids the seediness of Coney in the many decades since its 1940s/ ‘50s peak, the fires that robbed it of Steeplechase or the effects of those briefly-shown mammoth housing projects and suburbanization . Great history (and I root for it as someone with family & personal roots) there but this was a bit of a puff piece.Coney should be invested in and restored but without turning it into “Disneyland” but with more attractions, less garage on the streets and yes, a strong sense of safety.

[@danamcc8562]

have fun!

[@nicolehunter5927]

I've been to Coney island twice. I'm from N Y.

[@MeNaCeMatt12]

Carowinds became people’s playground.

[@lauramiddleton782]

Love coney island

[@docadams7099]

The real Coney Island was in Cincinnati. I have to say "was" because some dummies just HAD to turn it into just a water park, and then just HAD to close it. But I am glad that NY still has its Coney Island.

[@elizabethmills8667]

I have never been But planning a trip to NY to see coney island and America landmarks

[@AndrewVOdom]

Give it a few years for NYC to snap back…

[@ALwin808]

WOW…. Amazing…..

[@TheOicyu812]

♫ "Warriors, . . . . . come out to play-ayyy!" ♫

[@smee1969]

I hope someday in the near future to go to Coney Island 🎡🎢 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊💯🇺🇸🎬 I know who DJ is and his family and Coney Island from watching Dutchmazz on You tube... I can’t wait🤗to go .. it is magicaL and owned by family and historicaL 🇺🇸🙏🏼👏🏼😘

[@janicebrowningaquino792]

Never been, must go one day!! I want a Nathan’s hot dog!!

[@robertschwartz4810]

You can buy them at the grocery store. They really are the best.

[@Mac-ze4gu]

DJ is super cute

[@TheHardlove4u]

I'll second that 'super cute' and what a great attitude and philosophy. Wish I was closer (in UK) would love to friendly flirt.

[@marklipsky1512]

Over six minutes and no mention of Coney Island's location. Modern journalism.

[@AndrewVOdom]

Absolutely. The problem with these television pieces is that if you were to lay out the text, it would barely cover much of a printed page. Heavy on impressions and visuals …not much information.

[@PJB-ks9vn]

4:36 - That is so cruel. No way, man. People cannot be torturing and exploiting innocent animals at amusement parks like this for local entertainment!

[@cookingartguy2170]

Lost me at " electrocution of an elephant. " Never did like humans much.

[@truth_teller571]

It was Thomas Edison that did that in an attempt to show the power of electricity. I never liked him after this.

[@cookingartguy2170]

@@truth_teller571 Good reason not to.

[@Buttercup697]

@@truth_teller571 Edison was never at this event. The War of the Currents was long over. This was ALL Coney Island. But yes... humans kinda suck. :-/

[@chante707]

♥️Coney Island

[@jimsterrett8214]

First Nathan's hot dog, boy I feel old.

[@lysmykyta1199]

Coney Island, the poor man's Riviera!

[@KEMET1971]

I wish it would have been mentioned that for over 80 years of the history of this "magical" place African-Americans were not allowed to partake in this "Authentic Human Experience"

[@DavidPogue]

I've done a lot of research on this. I could certainly be wrong, but from what I've read, African-Americans were allowed at Coney Island from the beginning (www.brownstoner.com/neighborhood/coney-island/walkabout-the-b-9/). "Black people, who had long enjoyed Coney Island, were becoming more frequent visitors to the beach and the amusement parks, especially after the war. No rules could keep them from the public beach, but membership applications could keep African-Americans out of the pool." Is that pool (which eventually closed) what you're thinking of?

[@TheHardlove4u]

@@DavidPogue Thank you for clarifying that David; segregation makes my skin crawl.

[@Celluloidkid]

cool ..

[@aaronluna4779]

#sidetlaknyc ayo, where Byron in all of this? 1:00

[@greencoffee8224]

❤️❤️❤️

[@pegg38]

Amen…..human.

[@Mud11224]

y'all got it wrong!!! Nems is the Mayor of coney island

[@fanofallaroundaudreyandjus544]

They never said he was mayor, they said people call him mayor because of much he does for Coney Island.

[@mikemanfredonio4948]

Go there to go for a ride on the Cyclone Wonder Wheel

[@everlenaoliver6912]

0:43 Why is there a painting of the Joker behind him?😳🤯

[@DavidPogue]

Believe it or not, that's not the Joker.. that's the Coney Island unofficial logo!

[@matthew-epurnell1610]

That's not a picture of the Joker, it's a duplication of the face that was part of Steeplechase Park from 100 years ago.

[@thegatewithbriancohen]

He has a name: The Tilly or Tillie, which was named after George C. Tilyou.

[@gtech66]

Coney Island has some very. nice rides and attractions, but the area around it including those massive apartment buildings are all ghetto with criminals everywhere. If you go there, don't stay too far from the main areas.

[@bbygrlpt2]

Exactly

[@mr.djcooncoon8196]

Coney Island has been a progressing dangerous ghetto since the early 60s. As a kid we lived in beautiful Coney Island Houses projects but we should have been out of there by 1980 the latest...I remember my Grandmother putting me in the shopping cart in the projects on Surf Ave when I was 3 or 4yo in the late 60s and us walking to the (long gone) A&P on Neptune Ave. We walked through many dilapidated slum blocks even back then.... Today there are many mentally ill people walking around Coney Island....I'll pass except for an occasional drive thru to see the disaster....

[@BabsBrooklynPilates]

I was there on Tuesday. I had a great time and nothing bad happened to me. @Michael Graney has anything bad ever happened to you at Coney Island? Or you just trash-talking?

[@AndrewVOdom]

@@BabsBrooklynPilates Oh it’s rough around the edges and needs more investment to say the least. It will happen- we hope.

[@brobb00]

3:45 I could tell she is Jewish just from her voice, but when it showed what she looks like and that her name is Robin Jaffee Frank, that confirmed it. I knew she seemed cool lol

[@hippydippy]

Cool history, but that host is way cheesy... OUCH!

[@catlover34fl]

Watching an elephant being electrocuted? How disgustingly cruel people are who enjoy watching that. Human monsters hiring a lawyer to get them out of jail for their crimes, BUT killing an innocent elephant in such a horrific way. Will there ever be justice for the animals?

[@sampa2nyc]

Apparently Thomas Edison wanted to show the power of the new invention …electricity.

[@DanielBrklyn]

@@sampa2nyc He was actually showing that Tesla AC current was dangerous. Edison wanted everyone to use DC current that is not as strong.

[@valerie2158]

Yes, It was Thomas Edison trying to make Tesla’s electricity look bad. Watch the documentary “The Men Who Built America”, about Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, Carnegie, Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, Ford and Rockefeller.

[@maryangeladouglas]

I really was loving this sweet summer treat of a retrospective and update on beloved Coney Island though I've never been there up until you guys did not edit out the snarky little drive by comment by the lady author who has written a recent book on Coney Island which was, to wit, Coney Island can be thought of as the anti Disneyland. Say what? Who is your target audience CBS?? Its a ridiculous comment anyway as Coney Island predated Disney by quite a bit and furthermore, CBS has carried quite a few Disney specials in ITS history. And yet the serene reporter didnt bat an eyelash at the comment. News for your CBS. Americans love Coney Island AND they love Disneyland, Disneyworld. But this American is heartbroken and no longer loves CBS Sunday morning after decades of watching with unalloyed Joy after your broad daylight Sunday morning backstabbing of beloved Walt Disney.

[@xs5783]

Are Mene To Kuch Kara Hi Nai--Sir Bhi Urhade Ab To--Calls Ever Blocker..8X

[@brucelee4996]

Show Joey Chestnut eat a Nathan's hot dog.

[@garyeisenberg4251]

More toilets needed I still don’t go

[@bktaino201]

Get rid of the ugly housing projects, I hope it gets gentrified, it’s a beautiful New York City Beach

[@2002yannick1]

That guy was stupid hot!

[@Douglasmoore-ny5fo]

Its for new Yorkers. Never been. Never want to. Walt disney made Disneyland to be clean, safe, and family friendly. Not coney.

[@adenshures6573]

Remember Steeplechase at Coney Island? Before Trump destroyed it.

[@rainealogan6068]

Black

[@ameliarivera9801]

Lower the price rides not nice we all sufer and no jobs or rent yet you all want make up lost time 75 to much money not nice

[@cynthiajones4332]

Coney lovers listen... I am the way, truth & life no one comes to the father (God) except through me.John 14:6 Please believe that Jesus died for your sin & rose again. Then confess your sins to God today! Dont be left behind.

[@diatribe1194]

BET DEVILopers WANNA PAINT IT BLACK AND WHITE ADD ARTISINAL STUFF AND CHARGE $100s

[@MichaelDunetz777-qw4jn]

Wonder wheel 🎡 is the Cyclone for old people.