It had three of the most spectacular amusement parks ever built. There was Steeplechase Park, where customers raced mechanical horses along miles of track, glittering Luna Park, lit-up by more than a million lights, offering among other treats a simulated trip to the moon. Dreamland was bigger and more spectacular still, featuring Liliputia, a miniature metropolis. But in 1911, when Dreamland burned to the ground, Coney Island began its slow descent. Today what was once Luna Park is now the Luna Park Housing Projects.
Steeplechase Park is a vacant lot.
The once great Half Moon Hotel is now a geriatric center. But, as producer David Isay has discovered, there are still a few relics of the days when Coney Island was the world. Coney Island Chamber of Commerce . . . No, Steeplechase Park closed in 1964. Thank you very much.