Coney Island Museum

Outside Coney Island Museum (courtesy of Fernando Colon, Flickr)

Spring is a perfect time for thinking about the beach.  Maybe the water is still too cold and the sun’s rays aren’t quite strong enough, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to scope out Coney Island.  While it’s true that Coney Island is a destination in itself, it’s also a mindset.  You have Nathan’s, the boardwalk, and old time amusement rides like the Cyclone Rollercoaster, Wonder Wheel and Parachute Jump.  But you also have it’s storied past still permeating Surf Ave..  The Coney Island Museum keeps these memories alive.  Located on the second floor of an historic building at 1208 Surf Avenue (near West 12th Street), small exhibits are packed with Coney Island memorabilia like Daniel Blake’s frenetic Dreamland in Motion, The Boardwalk Rolling Chair, Funhouse Distortion Mirrors, vintage bumper cars, and cases of eccentric antique souvenirs.

On a broader scale, the museum embodies the spirit of 19th century American popular culture which spawned a democratic cultural golden age of new art forms like Broadway musicals, jazz, and motion pictures which appealed to the masses rather than the culturally elite.  Suddenly, it was OK for a poor laborer to have fun and escape the shackles of an often subservient life.  So come see how what was once a honky-tonk subculture now characterizes our nation’s psyche.  Starting July 11, 2009, the museum will have a new exhibit called Dreamland: The Coney Island Amateur Psychoanalytic Society and Their Circle, 1926-1972.

As they advertise, admission is 99 cents cheap.
Open Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year 12-5PM.