Jasmine A.
Yelp
I am not a fan of amusement parks as roller coasters and rides make me dizzy and cause me physical discomfort, so I wasn't particularly interested in Coney Island. However, my husband was interested in checking it out as Coney Island is a well-known attraction, so we went after our visit to Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Because it was mid-week and just before their busy season, the amusement park wasn't overly crowded, which is not a bad thing, but it looked a little depressing. As mentioned, I don't like amusement park rides, but my husband convinced me to go on the ferris wheel, which was alright, as we were in a cage, and we chose one of the cars that did not swing. But at $10 a ticket, we went on once and then took a walk around the amusement park and then headed towards the boardwalk.
During our entire nearly-three week trip, the weather was unbearably hot. However, the day we went to Coney Island, June 1, it was quite cold and windy, making the stroll along the boardwalk a little uncomfortable. We went into a bar for drinks and relief from the cold, and then my husband had a hotdog at Nathan's, which is apparently a very well-known hotdog stand (I had never heard of it). I didn't have a hotdog because I hate hotdogs and I was still stuffed from that Rueben sandwich at Yellow Magnolia Cafe at the botanic garden.
If you like amusement parks, then Coney Island may be worth visiting, otherwise there really isn't much to see, and it quite a long subway ride from everything. I did find the seagulls interesting, however, as they looked and sounded quite different from the seagulls here in Vancouver. Apparently the seagulls we observed on the boardwalk are called "laughing gulls".
[Yelp collections: East Coast 2022; NY Summer 2022]