Friday, November 22, 2019

Coney Island & Fifth Avenue Immortal

There are no two worlds in NYC as different from each other as Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and Coney Island out in Brooklyn. And yet they reflect and compliment each other in great ways. 

One is the epicenter of business, advertising, glamour, elegance, and wealth. The other is the epicenter of wildness and fun. People go to Fifth Avenue to work and revel in the elegance of NYC. People go to Coney Island to let loose in the craziness of NYC.

That's why I loved seeing these two articles about 5th Avenue and Coney Island past. One is an article about a new collection of pictures of 5th Avenue from the 1960s -- one where the men and women are dressed very formally in Mad Men-esque attire. The other is an article from the 1970s about a gang member in Coney Island who's trying to go straight, living in the shadow and danger of the Boardwalk, a world unto itself. 

Then, of course, there are the famous events that takes place in both locales each year -- the Easter Parade on 5th Avenue and its famous bonnets and Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on the 4th of July. Two great, totally different, NYC experiences.

Heck, 5th Avenue and Coney Island are so iconic that there are even great songs about them! Lou Reed's classic "Coney Island Steeplechase" and Irving Berlin's Easter Parade. 

NYC is forever complimenting itself, a ying and yang all its own.



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