Coney Island Brooklyn NY 1940 - Part 1

[ctmale1956]

there is a beach in FLA that, I believe is on the east coast of northern FLA that the black were allowed to swim and it was their own beach.....how nice. Oh yes, it was well known that that particular beach was a feeding and breeding ground for sharks....LOL.....yo yo yo yo yo ---- hey sharks --- any dark meat????? hahahha

[talochIV]

Man, what pretty gals in the beauty contest.

[applespice77]

Black people enjoyed Coney in the 40's. However, the beach was segregated in the 30's. That part of beach was known as "chicken bone", beach according to my Aunt.

I also have pics of her on the beach in one of those bathing suits that came down to the knee.

When we were children she would take us after work, by subway, and we would enjoy the amusements, and have our pistachio cone and slice of pizza.

[lewsimo]

please this was before 1960...African american people were most certainly allowed

At the beach all was cool...

[2reeler]

Thanks for posting this great old time Coney Island film! Its great to see the funny old rides and all the people out to beat the heat before they had air conditioning in houses! I really enjoyed all the pretty bathing beauties. What a great place it was to people watch!

[jazzharr69]

oh those were amazing days in the forties taking the trolly from Brighton Beach to Coney Island and a whole days At Steeplechase Parks and Nathans hot dogs for lunch.

[sf415RudeDog]

damn so0 many people on dat beach

[bettygoodbody]

tailors and had small markets, i had a by moms marriage relative who had a dry cleaners store. his presser in the back of over thirty some odd years, an old black man, who was like a , well, more than an employee but not like family , he slept in the store at night. but the black people were probably in their own little section on the beach, and of course, it would not have been looked on kindly to mix back then. man, people are stupid, huh? it was not as bad in new york. everyone go thru harlem

[bettygoodbody]

i am not that old but i grew up in new york in the fifties, and i will tell you that my experience, is that this was the mishpocha, the yiddish and jewish crowd, and the jews in new york, were not lynching or doing any of that sit in the back of the bus stuff, but there was a certain fellowship with black people , it wasn't overt though. two groups of folks who were kicked around by white people back then. it may not have been that jews had only work on the trains like porters, the jews were

[the212soul]

now the only best beach with lots of great rides and a nice boardwalk is WILDWOOD, NEW JERSEY!

[the212soul]

they didn't have the ride @3:30 when i went there

[mark1984]

It was horrible horrible.. what they did to our coney island park...very sad that this landmark turned out this way. I really hope that Thor equities will restore coney island like he said he will... It'll take time, but hopefully my kids or maybe their kids will enjoy coney island and actually have fun there without being scared that we will get robbed by all the thugs.

[mark1984]

I can't believe how you can tell the difference between the cool and relaxing and loving with normal families coney island was..as suppose to now!! After a 10 year break I took from coney island, because it was destroyed by the people who live near by at the projects... I took my kid there after 10 year once again, it got even worse. Drunks, dirty people, people throwing up left and right, smells like sweat like urine every step you take. Girls grinding on their boyfriends..

[mybandrocks]

5:00 bottom left...what the heck is he doing.....? great video btw

[BrooklynNiteGeneral]

Watch Thiz DVD  search on youtube

[exussupremebeing]

back then, italians controlled that entire area right up to the mid 80's, beefing with any blacks that happened to be in the area.

[LoveMichaelandWesley]

@exussupremebeing Now it is the Russians and Blacks beefing with each other. 

[nicoleayanna]

was there no black people there, at this time, because this was the jim crow era and they weren't allowed there ?

[albertdiner]

If you look carefully at 1:20, I see some black

people in the crowd. I wonder if they were

allowed to use the beach. Terrible discrimination.

[ctmale1956]

@albertdiner yeah --- well go and look at videos of this place in the 60's and 70's --- the blacks and others turned it into a ghost town......TERRIBLE DISCRIMINATION.....geez.....

[CenobiteVictim]

@nicoleayanna back then only rich people who were able to drive went there, because the train station there wasn't opened till the 50's, which was when coney island became what it is today.

[moilman]

@CenobiteVictim Sorry to break the news to you...the subway terminal at Coney goes way back to the 1920's or before. I was born IN Coney in 1949 and that subway station was old and dirty then! Secondly, Coney was NOT a place for the wealthy, rather, it was a place for all classes. It was a haven for the poor to come and cool off in that age before air conditioning.

[CenobiteVictim]

@moilman then I guess it wasn't pristine since Buster Keaton/Fatty Arbuckle's movie

[moilman]

@CenobiteVictim, Coney was never a high end resort. Pristine? Well, the sand was certainly cleaner than the shores of Alabama since the BP oil spill! The subway brought all walks of life to Coney to as we would say today, "chill out" and party. If you have a chance, check out the real old footage. Architecturally, I don't think the area had much merrit, but man, am I sorry that you never had a chance to see Steeplechase. I was a teenager when they tore it down. Pitty, what a bummer!

[mozfreak84]

@nicoleayanna some parks prohibited black and whites from intermingling. some parks would designate "negro days" where black could patronize the park. Most blacks, however, hardly attended these amusement parks because of the discrimination and would frequent colored beaches instead.

[haitianzoezoe]

to bad coney island is now a run down ghetto , filled with housing projects on every block ahahahaha , only in crooklyn

[LoserkidMacbeth]

Agreed. Only in Crooklyn. It's like, you got the Projects, than Stillwell by the former Park and Boardwalk, one way goes to like Sea Gate or whatever, and the either way heads to more projects, and than Brighton.

[nicoleayanna]

i wanted to know why men in nyc seem to intentionally ignore woman when they see them, like they don't even acknowledge their presence in any way,,on the subway or streets,,, just wondering

[playfulfoxygurl]

nicole its probbly because they got slapped by theyre wemon lol for looking.... and eventually got trained into it.

[LoserkidMacbeth]

Because women in NYC have the same attitudes as guys, we don't see each other UNLESS we actually feel like socializing. I would know, I'm born and bred in Brooklyn, and the attitude's always been to just stay quiet, especially in the morning.

[piemagexp]

Needs to be refurbished.

[JOEYandFREDDY]

check out our profile--we're 2 guys from brooklyn and we make a comedy show right from the neighborhood!! thanks :) great video about coney island!

[articsnow]

One may see a sort of urban Norman Rockwell in these videos... but what you cannt see standing out in this poor quality video, is that all the visitors were white. Not a single black person was on the beach.

Its not that blacks didn't want to escape the hot summers.

For me its hard to watch old American films and have any good feelings.

[Spahi77]

come on with the racism shit....just enjoy the video...dumbass.

[articsnow]

To: Spahi77

Cowards dare to curse at people on the Internet but never in public. I apologize if your pretty picture of our universe was disturbed.

You have been blocked Spahi77.

[shtetlcholoycd]

good call articsnow. i love to watch these old yiddishy movies, but yes, they are artifacts of grossly racist time.  after all, the bridge to jones beach was made so that it would be too low for buses to pass, thus preventing black people from going....

[articsnow]

@shtetlcholoycd

I am not saying white people cannt have their own events or even that blacks are often a cause of mischief. I am just surprised that a group of people, a single race, can enjoy themselves when the beach was the only means of cooling off and a park was pretty much the height of enjoyment, and purposely keep others out.

I suppose its not different then today's mass media and the top most wealthy and powerful people in America, including the best jobs.

[kitschyfox]

Have you been to Coney Island NOW? Have fun trying to spot ONE white person.

[KenJones1990]

I see alot of white folks along with just about every other race thats what I like about it!

[samhainaz]

I was born and raised in Brooklyn NY. Coney island was one of hte most fun places for families to take their kids and for grownups too. After so many years it got bad but the city cleaned it up and it got better. Sadly now its mostly torn down except for the "historical rides and vendors" and its becoming hotel resorts and then gambling on a barge towards NJ shore all made by the same millionaire that created New York New York hotel in Vegas. :(

[KERMITTHETURNTABLIST]

you should see it now its like fucking Mexico and Jamacia had kids that grew up in cuba and saddam was their father

NOT A SAFE PLACE FOR THE FAMILY

good if you wanna get killed or a good old fashion rape lol oviously everyone knows im being a smartass so feel free to leave negitive comments at will

[ohhsocuteeee]

wow coney island is disgusting looking now. every year it gets worse and worse. i wish i can go back in time and see how it all began ;/

[moilman]

@ohhsocuteeee , The place is a pit now for sure! There's lots of photos on line. Just Google Old Coney Island Photos, or history.

[lulumoppet]

How I wish I could go back in time to visit - funny how we can be nostalgic for a place & time we never knew - thanks so much for the video!

[AmityProductions]

wow most of these rides are at paradise pier in disney's california adventure.

So this is were they came from! =)

[KenJones1990]

No they did not come from Coney Island the rides were just modeled after the ones at Coney Island

[curtisthompson34]

wow dats alot of white people, haha, its not lik dat anymore

[CardinalEgan]

A lot of it is still there, but sadly may soon become another casualty of "development".

The beach and boardwalk are the same. Nathan's and Greg & Paul's are still there along with other stands, and the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel have been landmarked.

The status for the 2009 season is uncertain, but I urge folks to support preservation and visit if you can.

peace

[Wonka399]

I love footage of the late 30s and 40s. It looks like such a better time minus wwII

[luxzig]

i agree! it makes me feel happy

[jenflights]

This is wonderful !! My grandparents told me about it..... but to see it is way super cool !!! Thank you :)

Jen

[IDLERACER]

It was great until the end. I can't watch the part at 5:57 without thinking about poor Roy Horn.

[kid66625]

alot of white folks

[Razorqz]

too crowd

[lenzeke]

brought many smiles and memories of Conya I-Lund!! Keep 'em coming!! Fran Katz Sekela

[sfndl]

zillions of people!!! :):):):)

[harry10531]

Brings back great memories as a kid enjoying Coney Island, especially if I had enough money for Steeplechase Park with it's rotating barrel and especially the conical,wooden circular disc which you slid off as the speed increased. 1939-1943

[fromthesidelines]

The Barry Sisters {Clare & Merna}, 'Volentiru', who were a fixture on New York radio as much as Coney Island was at the time!

[Volentiru]

Please, who sing this song?