Astroland Commercial

And so ... another piece of what Pete Hamill might call the New York City alloy dies. Astroland Park in Coney Island shut down Sunday night and, according to the owners, it's for good. Thor Equities, who bought the park a little while, is planning to "transform" it into something bigger and more exciting. Who hoo! That probably means it'll be more expensive.

I went to Astroland last year for the final time. While it was dirty and overcrowded, it was still fun. There were lots of parents with kids, young couples, and older people having fun. I got the feeling that this was one of the dwindling number of places where middle class New Yorkers could go with their families and not have it cost a bloody fortune. And now that's gone too. It'll never be quite the same.

Here's a commercial for Astroland from, I assume from the sleazy corny music, the 1970s.