today is the hottest day in new york in something like 10 years.  yesterday the thermostat reached around 105° fahrenheit, yesterday i went to coney island. coney island is located in the southern brooklyn and really easy to get to from new york.  

just take the d train to coney island. 

the ride took me about 1 1/2 hours from harlem so i read and listened to music. i might have also fallen asleep for a few minutes… maybe. 

once i finally got there, i was ready to go. this was the first time i had gone to coney island on the subway and by myself.  the last time i went was in high school when some friends and i played hookie from working at mcdonald’s to spend the day at the beach.

first thing i saw as soon as i got out of the subway was the original nathan’s shop on stillwell avenue. 

it has been open since 1916.  i wasn’t hungry so i did not get any hot dogs. 

i kept walking and went into luna park. 

luna park is an amusement park that first opened in coney island from 1903 to 1944. luna park reopened on may 2010. 

i also got to see coney island amusement park’s main attractions: the wonder wheel, cyclone and the parachute jump. these three rides are protected as designated new york city landmarks.

the wonder wheel was built in 1918 and opened in 1920.  it holds 144 riders and weighs over 2,000 tons. 

the cyclone was built in 1927 and it is one of america’s oldest wooden coasters still in operation. it is actually owned by the city of new york, which i think is really cool.

and then, on the other side of the boardwalk, is the parachute jump. it is currently inactive.  it was built in 1939 as the first ride of its kind. it is sometimes called as brooklyn’s eiffel tower. i learned so much yesterday!

i really enjoyed walking on the boardwalk. 

the boardwalk is full of all these cute kitschy shops. 

and street performers. the guy playing the guitar invited anyone to sing along with him. a few people were brave enough to take him up on his offer. 

i was not one of them. i only sing in the shower, when i am alone at home. 

as i walked along the boardwalk a crazy guy started yelling at me to show me his private parts. i ran past him and headed towards the fair-type food stands.  i figured, at least there were more people there. safety in numbers, my friends. 

these stands are fantastic! they sell: ice cream, tacos, burgers, pizza, sausage, italian ices, funnel cakes, hot dogs, lemonade, corn dogs… the list goes on and on!

there were a ton of options! and because i knew that this was going to happen, i decided to eat at home before i left. 

i knew that if i went over there hungry i would have bought one of each.

but i resisted the temptation and instead got funnel cake and lemonade!

the funnel cake came with about a pound of powdered sugar hahahaha!

have you ever had funnel cake? the first time i had funnel cake was during college at the 4th of july/mayor’s cup celebrations.  fried dough + powdered sugar = count me in!

afterwards i sat on the boardwalk enjoying the sea breeze. 

there were a ton of people at the beach yesterday and it was only thursday. i can only imagine how crowded it will be this weekend. 

i really enjoyed my visit to coney island.  on my walk back to the subway i walked by an old-school sideshow building.

i didn’t go in this time.  i think i would need a friend to go in with me because i can be a scurdy cat. 

isn’t this mural cute? it is right across the street from the subway station.  my lens is not wide enough to take in the whole thing so i did my best with a few pics. 

finally, it was time to get on the subway and go home. 

it was around 8:00pm and still very hot. i was sooo happy to sit inside the train with free, cold ac!

if you are in new york, you should definitely visit coney island. you can check out the coney island fun guide to plan your trip.  and of course, the mta will help you get there.  

hope you enjoyed the post and are having a fantastic summer! the rest of my pictures are on my flickr page. check them out. 

thanks for stopping by!!