Coney Island Blog - Events

Coney Island is the fun place to be on New Year’s Day and the best way to welcome 2026 is with a dip in the Atlantic! Join or watch the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's 123rd Annual New Year's Day Plunge on January 1st from 11 AM until 1 PM. The party starts on the Boardwalk at 10 AM.

In an oral history interview recorded for the Coney Island History Project, Polar Bear Club member Naum Barash says of his winter swims: "You come out feeling like a newborn, like you were born just a second ago." Over 4,000 people participated in the 2025 Plunge. There is no fee to participate but all funds raised help support local non-profits offering environmental, educational, and cultural programming including the Alliance for Coney Island, Coney Island History Project, Coney Island USA, Coney Island YMCA, New York Aquarium, Parachute Literary Arts, and more.

Please visit the event website to register in advance for the Coney Island New Year's Day Polar Plunge or make a donation.

Photo Credit: Dan Turkewitz via @coney_island_polarbear_club

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) announced the date of the second and final public hearing for 'The Coney' Casino Community Advisory Committee.

WHAT: The Coney Community Advisory Committee Public Hearing

WHEN: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2025, 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Members of the public may arrive no earlier than 4:30 pm.

WHERE: CONEY ISLAND YMCA, 2980 West 29th St, Brooklyn, NY 11224

Your presence and testimony at the second and final public hearing and your emailed testimony to 'The Coney' Community Advisory Committee (CAC) are essential. According to the NYSGC, the CAC's job is to “review the application, gauge local support, and ultimately issue a finding determining whether there is adequate support."

If you don't want Coney Island to be replaced by a casino, we urge you to attend the public hearing and sign up to speak. According to the NYSGC announcement for the hearing: "Individuals wishing to speak will be asked to sign up in person. Speakers will be allowed 2 minutes to present their statement on a first come first serve basis. If you spoke at the first public hearing, you will not be allowed to speak at this hearing."

If you are unable to attend the hearing, please email your testimony as soon as possible to TheConeyPublicComment@nystec.com.

The hearing will be webcast live via YouTube, where it may also be viewed afterwards.

For each proposed downstate casino - eight applications were submitted to the state on June 27 - a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) was formed, consisting of six reps appointed by elected officials. Each CAC will hold two public hearings and must vote on their projects by September 30, 2025. Only the bids that receive a two-thirds majority approval from their CAC will advance for further consideration by the state board that makes the final decision. Up to three gaming licenses are expected to be awarded by the NYSGC by the end of the year.

Recent press coverage of 'The Coney' casino proposal:

"Proposed Coney Island casino would create year-round ‘traffic hell,’ adviser says" (New York Post, Aug 11)

"Proposed Coney Island casino could bring heavy traffic, overwhelm parking, according to environmental impact study" (Brooklyn Paper, Aug 9)

Watch Charles Denson's video, The Coney Casino: Greed Kills, linked below. It highlights the serious public safety concerns being ignored by the Coney casino developers, city agencies, and elected officials.

This afternoon the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) announced the date of the first public hearing for "The Coney" Casino Community Advisory Committee.

WHAT: The Coney Community Advisory Committee Public Hearing

WHEN: TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2025, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

WHERE: CONEY ISLAND YMCA, 2980 West 29th St, Brooklyn, NY 11224

This hearing will be webcast live at https://www.youtube.com/live/mdFwBScQqcc

Visit NYSGC's web page for more info on the meeting and links to the casino proposal:

https://nycasinos.ny.gov/event/coney-community-advisory-committee-public-hearing-august-26-2025

According to the NYSGC the Community Advisory Committee's job is to “review the application, gauge local support, and ultimately issue a finding determining whether there is adequate support." The process is as follows:

For each proposed casino - eight applications were submitted to the state on June 27 - a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) was formed, consisting of six reps appointed by elected officials. Each CAC will hold two public hearings and must vote on their projects by September 30, 2025.

On July 30, an organizational meeting of the CAC for 'The Coney' casino was held and NYC Councilman Justin Brannan was elected chair of the committee. Brannan and two other elected officials, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, appointed themselves to the committee. The other three members of the committee are Portia Henry, a program manager at Amtrak; Alex Sommer, the director of the Brooklyn office for the Department of City Planning; and Marissa Solomon, a community resident who volunteers at the Coney Island Museum. They were appointed by Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams, and Assemblymember Brook-Krasny, respectively.

Only the bids that receive a two-thirds majority approval from their CAC will advance for further consideration by the state board that makes the final decision. Up to three gaming licenses are expected to be awarded by the NYSGC by December 31, 2025. Each casino licensee will pay a $500 million license fee.

Recent press coverage of 'The Coney' casino proposal:

"Proposed Coney Island casino would create year-round ‘traffic hell,’ adviser says" (New York Post, Aug 11)

"Proposed Coney Island casino could bring heavy traffic, overwhelm parking, according to environmental impact study" (Brooklyn Paper, Aug 9)

"Coney Island Casino Plan Comes Under Fire at First Committee Review" (BK Reader, Aug 1)

If you don't want Coney Island to be replaced by a casino, we urge you to email your comments as soon as possible to TheConeyPublicComment@nystec.com.

Please sign and share the petitions against the Coney casino organized by our friends and neighbors Coney Island USA and Luna Park. Over 30,000 signatures have been collected so far.

Dan's Barber Shop, West 16th Street, 1973. Photo © Charles Denson.

The Coney Island History Project will open for the season on Memorial Day Weekend with two new exhibits on view from May 24 through September 1, 2025. Charles Denson: Coney Island Streets: 1965–1975 and Amanda Deutch: Brooklyn Wilds combine street photography, cyanotypes, native plants, and poetry to explore the natural and urban sides of Coney Island that are not well known. Through the medium of photography, both shows complement each other by exploring the complexity of this New York City neighborhood. With this exhibit, we are introducing our new Wonder Gallery, a collaboration between Charles Denson and Amanda Deutch.

Charles Denson grew up in the West End of Coney Island and as a teenager began photographing the surrounding neighborhood as it was transformed by an ill-conceived Urban Renewal program that called for the demolition of 60 blocks of homes and businesses.

“I grew up to the sounds of fire engines and bulldozers as block after block of viable housing went up in flames or was reduced to rubble under the treads of heavy machinery. None of the structures in my photographs has survived.”

Coney Island resembled a “war zone” during the years 1965 to 1975. Government funding for urban renewal projects ran out in 1974 and the community was left a debris field of burned out structures and closed businesses.

The exhibit shows the effects of discriminatory policies that began back in 1938 when the federal government “redlined” Coney Island. Redlining targeted the area because of prejudice against immigrants, African Americans, and local residents who were predominantly of Jewish, Italian, and Irish ancestry.  The flawed policies of the Federal Housing Administration made it nearly impossible for homeowners to obtain mortgages, loans, and insurance. Slumlords, arsonists, greedy developers, and block-busting took advantage of the situation and quality of life deteriorated as the area became a poverty pocket.

“My photographs show how resilient the neighborhood proved to be as residents survived as best they could with what remained. During this ten year period I photographed portraits of local residents, family-run businesses, and the dramatic day-to-day changes taking place in Coney Island.”

Charles Denson is the executive director of the nonprofit Coney Island History Project. He grew up in Coney Island and began documenting his neighborhood as a boy, a passion that continues to this day. His first book, Coney Island: Lost and Found, was named 2002 New York Book of the Year by the New York Society Library. He is the also author of Wild Ride: A Coney Island Roller Coaster Family! (2007), Coney Island and Astroland (2011), and Coney Island's Wonder Wheel Park (2020). A writer, photographer and art director, Denson began his career in 1971 as a photographer for New York Magazine.

The Coney Island History Project exhibition center is open free of charge on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day. Our hours are 1:00 PM-7:00 PM. We're located at 3059 West 12th Street, next to the West 12th Street entrance to Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, just a few steps off the Boardwalk.

Kids playing on mattresses, West 32nd Street, 1969. Photo © Charles Denson.