Coney Island: Boardwalk, Rides and Hot Dogs

Coney Island is a gem frozen in time. The hour-long subway ride is worth it to see one of the most distinctive neighborhoods in Brooklyn, especially in summer.

The moment you set foot on its old wooden boardwalk facing the Atlantic, smell the cotton candy, and see the carousels, roller coasters, and freak shows, you're catapulted straight back to the early 1900s.

What to Do in Coney Island

There's plenty to do in Coney Island, a guaranteed New York classic you'll always want to come back to (I don't miss it on any trip back to NYC):

1. Walk the boardwalk

Walking the Coney Island boardwalk and getting close to the water is something you simply have to do.

The boardwalk stretches all the way to neighboring Brighton Beach, home to New York's Ukrainian community, a fantastic oceanfront stroll for a Sunday morning.

In summer, take the chance to jump in the water at this wide urban New York beach.

2. Visit Luna Park

During the warm months you can enjoy Luna Park, an amusement park straight out of the movies. It's a fantastic plan if you're traveling with kids.

This is nothing like Disneyland or Six Flags. Here you'll find classic carnival rides, and a couple of them are among the oldest in the United States. Picture this: the roller coaster is made of wood!

Buying an unlimited ride pass is a great idea if you want to enjoy all of Coney Island's attractions. Unfortunately, you won't be able to ride the Cyclone until further notice, the oldest roller coaster in the United States!

This iconic New York roller coaster, a symbol of Coney Island with 97 years of history, was abruptly shut down in late August 2024 after a mechanical failure.

The official word is that the Cyclone will stay closed until further notice, since it needs repairs and an additional inspection before it can reopen to the public.

No exact reopening date has been announced yet, but we're hoping it's back as the main attraction at Luna Park soon.

3. Freak shows

Near the park you can also catch freak shows with bearded ladies, little people, and two-headed babies.

The fun part is that these circus acts are just as transparently staged as they were back in the twenties, never scary like Tod Browning's Freaks (1932), but that's precisely the magic of Coney Island: reliving more innocent times.

These attractions are only open during vacation seasons and holidays, usually between Easter and Halloween (April through October).

The other important thing to know if you want to visit: on weekdays they open in the late afternoon and run until midnight, and on weekends they open at noon.

4. Coney Island Museum

If nostalgia is your thing, don't miss the Coney Island Museum.

It's a small private exhibition curated out of love for pop culture. It carries on the tradition of P.T. Barnum's Dime Museums, created in the 19th century to entertain America's working classes.

It displays objects, signs, and old mechanical rides from the neighborhood. The best part is the fun house mirrors, originals from Coney Island's long-gone houses of mirrors.

Photos aren't allowed, but I cheated! I wanted to show you how one-of-a-kind it is so you'll go if you love American pop culture as much as I do.

Opening hours vary quite a bit, so it's best to check them on their website.

5. Eat hot dogs at Nathan's

You can feast on authentic New York hot dogs at Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs (corner of Surf and Stillwell).

If you want the classic flavor, order it with sauerkraut and then load it up with their German-recipe mustard. Add a Coney Island Ale on the side. Delicious!

This is the very first location of this famous American fast-food chain, so it's a place worth seeing.

6. Hot Dog Eating Contest

The hot dog eating contest is put on by Nathan's every July 4, Independence Day. This quintessentially American, even nerdy, event has records: 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes for men and 40 in 10 minutes for women.

Beyond the roughly 40,000 spectators who show up that day, it's famous for being broadcast worldwide on ESPN, so you've probably heard of it.

Eating hot dogs at Coney Island makes perfect sense, since this is said to be where German immigrant Charles Feltman invented the American-style hot dog around 1870.

7. Mermaid Parade

Coney Island has also become a sought-after venue for nighttime concerts, and it hosts fun annual events like the Mermaid Parade.

The parade takes place on a Saturday in June and consists of a contest of women and men dressed as mermaids and mermen, followed by a procession down Surf Avenue and along the boardwalk.

You can read the details on the official event page.

8. New York Aquarium

If you're going with kids, you'll enjoy the New York Aquarium, another attraction right on the Coney Island boardwalk (Surf Avenue & West 8th Street).

9. New Year's Day in Coney Island

Every January 1, after the New Year's celebrations, a very unusual event takes place: the Coney Island Polar Bear Club.

It's a free event where plenty of brave souls swim in the freezing Atlantic to shake off the hangover (if you dare to swim, you need to register starting at 10 am at the same starting point).

The other option is simply to enjoy watching other people freeze 😉

The meeting point is on the Coney Island boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. Everyone hits the water at 1 pm.

The History of Coney Island

Over its history, Coney Island has gone through many changes: first it was a seaside resort for politicians and millionaires, then it filled up with casinos, horse racing, and prostitution.

Al Capone is said to have worked at one of these hotel-casinos around 1917, according to Wikipedia.

This peninsula (formerly an island) was also home to an unthinkable hotel: a building shaped like an elephant, with windows for eyes (the Elephant Hotel). We can't see it anymore because it burned down in 1896.

In the late sixties, when the mayor at the time hired urban planner Robert Moses to design affordable housing, Coney Island changed radically.

On land once occupied by amusement parks, huge impersonal apartment blocks went up to house low-income families.

The controversial Moses was determined to turn Coney Island from a tourist destination into a public housing zone.

That impoverished the area and scared off tourists, deepening the economic depression that had already begun after World War II and forced most of the amusement parks to close.

That's why the reopening of Luna Park means so much to the city: a battle won against time and economic decline.

This time capsule of a neighborhood has always been threatened by urban renewal projects, but thanks to the efforts of Coney Island fans everywhere, it has survived several attempts at demolition.

Don't get too comfortable, though. The wrecking crew will show up eventually, so we recommend you visit Coney Island as soon as you can…

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Address:

Coney Island is a peninsula at the southern tip of Brooklyn

Coney Island is the southernmost neighborhood in Brooklyn, and getting there from Manhattan can take anywhere from an hour to 90 minutes.

How to get to Coney Island

Subway D, F, Q. Coney Island-Stillwell Ave station