Coney Island marks New Year’s Eve, Brooklyn style
Borough President’s Brain Child Creates Family-Friendly Alternative to Times Square
“We schlepped all the way from the Upper East Side on the D train,” writer Shira Dicker explained, while she, along with her husband Ari Goldman, a professor at Columbia University, waited in line for a turn on Coney Island’s venerable B & B Carousell. “Coney Island, Nathan’s and a ride on the carousel — what a quintessentially New York way to welcome the New Year!” Dicker said as the line moved quickly around.
The rides were brief and entrance was free, as workers kept the crowd moving at a rapid clip. After riding the ornately painted horses, New Year’s Eve celebrants might purchase “2017” lighted eyeglass frames or pastel-colored glow sticks from one of several vendors. Those who hadn’t filled up on Nathan’s found sustenance at the White Castle Express.
Whether or not eschewing the million-plus mob 14 miles away that fills Times Square is “quintessentially New York” or not, Borough President Eric Adams boasts it as cool in much the same way Brooklyn has come to view itself as Manhattan’s finally-out-of-the-shadows hip sibling.