 Coney Island
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Coney Island is a peninsula, formerly an island, in the southernmost part of Brooklyn, New York City. It has a beach on the Atlantic Ocean. The neighbourhood has a population of 60,000 people in the western part of the peninsula, with Seagate to its west; Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east; and Gravesend to the north.
Coney Island was a major resort and site of amusement parks that reached its height of popularity in the early 20th century. It declined in popularity after World War II, after which, there followed years of neglect. Recently, Coney Island has been revitalized by the opening of KeySpan Park, home to the successful Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team.
Coney Island, New York City
Author: Bran (public domain)
The Native American inhabitants of the area called the island Narrioch, which means "land without shadows". This is because its compass orientation keeps the beach area in sunlight all day. The Dutch called it Conyne Eylandt or Konijn Eiland, meaning Rabbit Island, using modern Dutch spelling. This name was found in the Dutch map of of New Netherland (the former name for New York State) of 1639 by Johannes Vingboon. That was because Coney Island, as with the other barrier islands of Long Island, was overrun with rabbits. Rabbit hunting was common there until the resorts were developed and open space eliminated.
Historians generally accepted that Coney Island is the English adaptation of the Dutch name Konijn Eiland, but there are those who believe the name derives from other sources. Some say early English settlers named it Coney island after its cone-like hills. Others believed it was named after an island in Ireland, by an Irish captain named Peter O'Connor. Yet there are other claims, that the name came from the native American tribe that once lived there.
Getting there
Take the D, F, N or Q train to the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Subway Station, the F or Q trains to the W 8th St -NY Aquarium Subway Station, or the Q train to the Ocean Parkway Subway Station.
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