My Hometown

A pictorial tour of NYC - vintage postcard views
Please be patient: there are lots of cool graphics on this page

 More Coney Island and Cityscapes

coney island beach 1907

I fished from this pier in Coney Island in the fifties and sixties. That's when there were 
tons of fish to catch,the water not so polluted, and they were still safe to eat. We also 
caught baskets full of big, tasty crabs. Now those are silly creatures. Put a blob of 
garbage that smells bad in a basket, and the fools walk right in and wait for you to 
pull up your basket with them inside. That game didn't last long, there was no sport in 
that. At that time, you could also go down by the rocks for fresh mussles, which those 
of us who are of Italian descent enjoy in our pasta sauce as much as we do clams.

Steeplechase Pool at Night - 1925

The new boardwalk

The Original Nathan's

Now this was THE place to go while you were in coney island for the day. This landmark 
is a famous restaurant right on the corner, near the amusement park and boardwalk. The 
place was always packed, the lines long, but nobody was going ANYWHERE til they got their 
choice of their famous hotdogs, knishes, corn on the cob dipped in vats of melted butter, 
deep fried shrimp in a cup, or the best, biggest and fattest, greasiest crinkle cut french 
fries on the planet. Fellow natives fondly remember the cone-shaped paper cups the fries 
and other small foods were served in. The list of food was endless, so were the lines

Now for some more New York CityScapes

The "Elevated Railway"

Italian Gardens Apartments - Park Avenue - 1944

       
Flatiron Building                                       "City of Skyscrapers"

isn't this a beautiful postcard?