Coney Island along the D Line

I have been to Coney Island a few times before, first time being for the Siren Music Festival a few years ago when that festival was actually good. Then again with some of my friends from Denmark who were visiting in February and wanted to do a photo shoot out there. It was cool to see Coney Island in the winter but not soo cool or should I say freezing to be by the ocean at that time. I just remember my hands going numb to the point I didn't care anymore but the more and more I would try to combat the weather the harder is was for me to even push the buttons on my camera. It sure makes for a tough photo shoot. So I am here again in Coney Island in hopes that the renovations have started because Coney Island sure needs some fixing it up. I must say the station is absolutely beautiful and a little trivia for you this station is a major rapid transit station in Coney Island, Brooklyn, serving as the terminal for four New York City Subway services. It is the world's largest above-ground terminal facility, and notable as the most energy-efficient mass transit facility in the United States. The arches as you will see in the photos are reminiscent of classic European train sheds. The roof is covered with solar electric panels. The station uses most of their power from these solar electric panels. It is the largest renewable-energy enabled mass transit station in the United States (Wikipedia). I really had no idea the subways were making use of solar energy. This has to be one of my favorite stations thus far due to the amazing architecture. I felt like I was in a museum than a subway station. There were also murals all over the station that were of silk screened glass. These murals were installed in 2004 by Robert Wilson and are entitled "My Coney Island Baby". I will let the photos speak for themselves. As I exited the station I came upon the world of beach going locals, amusement park enthusiasts and hot dog loving people. Well, of course I had to go get a Nathan's hot dog. These hot dogs are world famous and a tradition of Coney Island. There is actually a hot dog eating contest every year on the 4th of July that is televised I believe on ESPN of who can eat the most hot dogs. I have the picture to prove it. I am starving at this point and wait in a long line for this famous hot dog some fries and a lemonade which all ended up costing me $8.00. $8.00!!!!! what??? for a hot dog, fries and a drink??? This have better be a damn amazing hot dog and the fries better equal it. Well I am not sure if it was my hunger or if it was a pretty great hot dog but I did enjoy it and pretty much had it down my throat in a matter of minutes. I looked across the street and noticed that there was some competition. Chicago's Hot Dog King made with Vienna beef. I just thought that was bizarre especially to be in NYC across from Nathan's. I mean come on...location, location, location. I can't say too much because I didn't take the liberty to actually try one due to being appalled by the eight dollars I just spent but the competition was a bit funny to me. Anyway, I proceeded to walk around for just a bit longer and see what was going on on the boardwalk. It was bit crowded for a Monday afternoon but it is the last week in August so that is understandable. Everyone trying to catch the last few days of summer and today was quite nice and a decent beach day. The only flaw was the overcast. I find Coney Island to be dirty and I feel it just needs a big renovation. I know it will take away from all the nostalgia but I think with a good cleaning and renovation it will forever live on. I have to say though it does have some great photo opportunities. I will let them to the talking....

Bensonhurst to Coney Island...D style

Today I rode the D train all the way to Coney Island stopping at the last seven stops on the line which are mainly the Bensonhurst area of Brooklyn. I have taken plenty of pictures and mostly at Coney Island which I will be writing about in a separate post. My first stop is 79th Street which was another outdoor stop and didn't have any exciting features to it but I did manage to get some decent shots and one of some the people on the platform which is always interesting to me. You can learn a lot about a person from just observing them on the subway platform, the way they dress, their attitude, sometimes their religion or nationality and what type of work they might or might not do, what mood their in and if they have the latest technology (i.e. Iphone, Ipod or blackberry). 18th Avenue was my next stop and from the platform you could see the Manhattan bridge which I got to capture due to being a clear day. At this point I make my way to 20th Avenue which was peaked my interest due to the surrounding areas. As I exited the subway station and explored the neighborhood I found it to be a line of stores on either side of the elevated subway. At this point the breeze was blowing in the right direction and I could start to smell the saltwater which was waiting for me only a few stops away. These surrounding areas consisted of mainly of Chinese, Russian and Jewish inhabitants. I can always tell of what kind of area I will be walking into just by looking at who is on the platform. The area reminded me a lot of Chinatown and the shopping to prove it. Very cheap stores. I felt sometimes like I was in another world and I am only about an hour outside of Manhattan. The next stops which consisted of Bay Parkway, 25th Avenue and Bay 50th Street were consistently the same and then finally I arrived at Coney Island....

I have been away on vacation for the past week and a half and have taken a break from traveling on the NYC subways. I turned in my Metro card for a bicycle to ride around the beautiful city of Copenhagen. What a time that was but I am not going to get into my vacation. That is not what this blog is about so lets get down to business. I start out on a new subway line, the D line. The D is the 6th Avenue Express and I have already covered the B line and that does a lot of local stops on the same route so the D line shouldn't take me that long to cover. I decided to go out to Brooklyn and cover those stops first. 36th street and 4th Avenue was where I got off first. There is beautiful artwork at this stop called An Underground Movement: Designers, Builders, Riders by Owen Smith done in 1998. The mural depicts the design, construction, and riders of the subway. Two other mosaics above the stairways depict amusement rides at Coney Island framed by the stairway of a Brooklyn brownstone house, and the New York city skyline with Rockettes and a paper tape stock ticker. I spent some time at this stop due to the artwork and then proceeded to 9th Avenue and 39th Street. This stop was an outdoor stop with some old fashioned lanterns which I thought were quite nice to see. Fort Hamilton Parkway was another outdoor station and a very Jewish inhabited area. I caught a Jewish woman on the platform across the way reading a map. I believe the best photos of people are when they are totally unaware that you are taking their pictures. 50th street is next and the remaining stops are all outdoor which didn't bother me a bit because it was a beautiful warm sunny day. I really liked that bright red color of the inside of the station. It looked like it was newly painted. 55th and 62nd street stops were much of the same except 62nd street had some great views because the buildings aren't tall at all in that area of Brooklyn and it was a great platform to stand from and just daydream. 71st Street was the last stop of the day and was pretty much the same feeling as the others but I still got some scenic shots. Until next time....