on-going project.
Coney Island has been photographed, filmed and written about it in books of all length and in languages of all kinds.
The magic of the freak show has attracted the eye of every curious. I am no different. But, the Coney Island I show here in my photos is a sadder and less weird Coney. A Coney made of his locals; the only ones who stay faithful to the beach all year ‘round come rain, snow or sunshine.
These are the people born in such enchanted place. These I portray here are the Italians, Ukraine and Russians descents of immigrants who found a safe harbor on the shores of Brooklyn some 40 years ago.
The same ones who are trying one way or the other to “keep Coney Island Americana,” by fighting the system that wants “change for the better.”
Alberto Zamperla is the Italian roller-cost owner responsible for all this. He has leased the restaurants on the Coney Island boardwalk and his idea is “re-modernization.”
But places like “Grill House, Ruby’s Bar, Paul’s Daughter and Cha Cha’s are the heart of the boardwalk. They have been there for over 30 years and they are not up for a new look. Their charisma lies in their old, trashy looks, the same they had when they were first build.
“This is a disgrace,” said Louie (Louis) Scarcelli, third-degree Italian immigrant from Naples. “I was probably conceived on the board walk and now this guys wants to change it and make it a chain. Nobody wants an Applebees here. That’s not what tourists come here to see!”
portfolio
- not just a freak show
