Why Coney Island Will Never Die

So it looks like Astroland is closing for good.  Sniffle.  I was there yesterday for THE last day and the usual crowd was there - EVERYONE.  I had an overwhelming sense when I was walking through the crowd that this will not destroy Coney Island.  Just a feeling. Hope I'm right.   Could be wrong but  I don't think so.  We are tougher than that.

The photo above is a happy moment for me and for the couple making out.  I was happy because I saw the photo and was able to take it without disturbing them.  My friend Natalie said, "That is a got-to-get-home-before-curfew-kiss".  I say it's a goodbye to summer kiss. Hopefully not a goodbye to Coney kiss.

Please indulge me for a moment...

Coney Island is just about the most American place I have ever experienced.  When I am there I have that lovely feeling of falling in love - with humanity, with chaos, with colors, with light, with photographs waiting to be taken.  The wonderful, brilliant thing about Coney is that there is more than enough of all of this to go around - flesh for lovers, freaks for photographers, ice cream for the screaming kids, trash piles for the sea gulls.  And this is the America I love.