Coney Island amusement park is a place full of contradictions. A decaying monument to gaudy Americana, it’s a fading reminder of what that culture once was in all its tacky and confused glory. Even in post-Giuliani New York, it still manages to smoulder with an irrepressible charm.

The broadwalk

On my first visit, I couldn’t help thinking the place was a shit-hole. Its hot dog stands, game stalls and fun fair rides were run down and shabby. The people who operated them didn’t look much better off: sad, solitary creatures sitting in their little booths of despair. I remember taking my shoes off and walking along the beach in front of the boardwalk, only to put them straight back on after almost stepping on a used condom and broken glass.

The Parachute Jump

The history of Coney Island is awash with tawdry tales of seedy excess and immorality. Once a jewel of glitzy entertainment, the area fell into profound disrepair, becoming a notorious hangout for drug addicts, whores and hoodlums. Along with the departure of the beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, it came to embody the decline of New York’s most famous borough. Its image as a den of filth, danger and depravity has been propagated in many pop culture outings - most famously in the 1979 cult gang violence odyssey The Warriors and more recently as a backdrop for the harrowing, heroin nightmare of Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream.

Nick Sin - resident little person

Somehow, in recent years the area has enjoyed something of a renaissance. The annual Mermaid Parade, the Siren Festival and hot dog eating contest attract thousands every year. Coney Island landmarks like Nathan’s restaurant buzz with revelers on balmy summer evenings. A breeze from the Atlantic cools the families, teenage couples, tourists, hipsters, sweet old Russian ladies, housing project kids and colourful freaks who populate its boardwalk.

This year could potentially mark the end of Coney Island as we know it. Joe Sitt, CEO of Thor Equities, has bought up most of the land and plans to turn it into a “year-round entertainment and amusement district”. As of yet, no one seems to know quite what this will mean, but the local press has run several nervous reports about plans for huge corporate developments and monstrous luxury apartments. Rumour and gossip in the community fluctuates between hysterical concern and a cautious optimism that Coney Island can be restored to its former splendour without losing its intoxicating charm.

Dick Zugin is the founder and head of Coney Island USA, an organisation dedicated to preserving the Island’s artistic spirit.

“Coney Island USA is 29 years old, and even though we’re an arts centre our speciality is Americano Bizarro. We do really weird stuff. We run the freak show, the mermaid parade, the Coney Island museum, the film festival and just about every special event that happens here.

“The press has over simplified the whole redevelopment issue. Even in the worst case scenario all the classics stay; the Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel, Nathan’s hot dogs, the Parachute Jump and us at the Freak show. We just bought the building so we’re not going anywhere. Coney Island is not coming to an end as an amusement park, it’s coming in to its 21st Century identity.

“I actually grew up in P.T Barnum’s (circus and freak show pioneer) home town of Bridgeport Connecticut so even before I was a teenager I was reading about freaks. We’re continuing a uniquely American tradition that Barnum started in the 1840s. He invented the over the top American sideshow, and it was focused here in Coney Island. There were eight different sideshows here in what was a freak-friendly neighbourhood. It’s really the mothership of freaks, wonders and curiosities. Coney Island to me as an artist is a place where my theories and obsessions meet popular culture. Here we can do art for the masses instead of for a few beautiful people in some trendy loft.”

Scott Baker is an actor and magician who’s been pulling in crowds at Coney Island’s sideshow for 13 years.

“I’m originally from Oklahoma. I was a magician and a singer as a kid but I was always been fascinated by the sideshow type of entertainment. I was on Broadway for 12 years and while I was there I started learning some of the sideshow acts. When I came to Coney Island in 1995 I became the outside talker due to my acting background and I’ve been packing them in ever since.

“I think Coney Island is absolutely integral to the spirit of New York. You’re not going to see this type of entertainment anywhere else in a America. You might see variations but you won’t see the true, traditional sideshow anywhere else. I have a lot of Broadway actor friends who come out here to see the shows and they’re floored. It’s such an honour to preserve this quintessentially American entertainment. The important thing for the developers to do is maintain the integrity and spirit here. I sure hope they do.”

Denos Vourderis’ family has owned the Wonder Wheel since 1983. It was bought buy his grandfather, Constantinos Dionysios Vourderis, who owned a restaurant and worked in the area from the 60’s.

“My grandfather came over from Greece and opened up a shop here in Coney Island. It’s the classic American story. He was a poor immigrant and went from owning a small store to buying up the kiddy park and Wonder Wheel. It was passed down to my dad and uncle and now I work here. I’m 22 and I’ve been working here since I was ten. Ever since I could walk I was down here. I love Coney Island. I grew up here. I’ve learnt a lot here. A lot of people talk about how much they hate going to work, not me, I love coming to work.

“It’s tricky what’s goin’ on right now. The developer came here and bought up everything from the Bowery to the Boardwalk. We’re one of the few people to still own land here. You take the good with the bad, if the city wants us out then they have to buy us out. Whatever happens the Wonder Wheel will always be here. It’s a registered landmark, you can’t even build anything in front of or behind it.”

Joanmarie Oliveri is a Brooklyn native who’s been visiting Coney Island for over 60 years.

“I was two when I first visited Coney Island. Back then it was known as the American Riviera. People came from all over the world to walk on our boardwalk, that’s how beautiful it was. Back then the sand was clean, the ocean was clean, everything was pristine. It was just gorgeous. People would dress up to come here in the evenings and there were famous entertainers from all over performing here. We used to come down as kids. Our parents would take us. They’d put us on the Wonder Wheel, all the rides, buy us ice cream and it was the just the place to go.

“Around the 60’s it really deteriorated. They stopped keeping the beach clean, less and less people came and it started to attract a bad element. I’ve never stopped going even when it was really bad. We don’t go as often as we used to but we have to go; it’s a tradition. If they do bring it back it will never have that charm that it had. They want to turn it into something like Atlantic City with big hotels. I mean the plans look beautiful but it won’t be the same.”