The New York Acquarium, Also Called The Coney Island Aquarium
Read more articles on Travel and Real Estate.July 7, 2008
Posted by neillevine
July 7, 2008
Posted by neillevine
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The New York Aquarium has been in Coney Island since 1957 so it is often referred to as the Coney Island Aquarium, a case of closeness breeding familiarity.
It is located adjacent to the Riegelman boardwalk. In the old days well before the recent expansion, it was possible to peek in between the spaces of an upright log fence and get something of a gander. Nowadays, there is a long plaster mural depicting the history of the neighborhood that completely obscures any free peeks, although a hypothetical proposal has been floated to allow the public to enjoy a shark exhibit without entering the grounds along with some other proposals like further enlarging the facility and even supporting whale watching boat rides possibly from a new pier to be built nearby. The idea is the Aquarium is good. There is still room to make it better.
Even though the Aquarium is a neighborhood cultural island deliberately isolated by tall walls from its surroundings, it is located in a pleasant area populated with middle class high rises to the north, the boardwalk and ocean to the south, public space and hand ball courts to the east with parking and the Coney Island Cyclone to the west.
The adjacent parking lot is big and a long ramp connects directly to the West Eighth Street subway station across the street so it isn’t even necessary to bother much with the outside world. On the other hand a stroll in either direction on wooden Riegelman Walk is a nice way to while away an afternoon and ten blocks to the east at Brighton Fourth Street (in Brighton Beach) there is dining on the boardwalk and to the west just five blocks away there is a lot of fast food and the local amusement zone including Astroland and Deno’s Wonder Wheel. On West Eighth Street, near the big, local Parking Violations Bureau office, there is an Italian pizza place, a Chinese take out place and a metal cart selling franks and soda. One block further up near Neptune Avenue is a busy McDonald’s.
The Aquarium itself has a nice cafeteria selling salads, wraps, pizza, calzones and soda with two gift shops and lots of seating all over the place. The day I visited, the facility was packed with kids of all shapes, sizes, colors and descriptions accompanied by even bigger adults of all shapes, sizes and nationalities, plus a couple of empty strollers. The Aquarium’s web site claims eight thousand specimens living in big tanks and large habitats with ample photo displays illustrating sone subtleties of nature. There were even two shows daily in the auditorium featuring trained sea lions, who appear to have succeeded the top billed dolphin acts of the old days. One thing I would have liked to have witnessed would have been the daily feedings. But no schedule was obvious. Perhaps there is no public schedule.
My opinion is that future developments at the Aquarium could be tied in with redevelopment of next door Coney Island amusement district to turn the area into a first class tourist destination. So a new pier could be built to host the suggested whale watching trips. It is also possible that other attractions could be added to boost interest such as tourist oriented submarine trips like they have in Miami and elsewhere. Historic ships are an attraction at the South Street Seaport. Certainly, there ought to be a ship suitable for Coney Island. Then there is the possibility of horse riding on the beach, scuba diving and the like that tourists to Mexico and the Caribbean can enjoy. Other cities offer tourists short helicopter rides. Perhaps it could be done in New York, too.
On the other hand, nearby Sheepshead Bay offers a sea going boating experience for fishing and gambling, but that industry has been in decline for years.
Specific things that could be added to the Aquarium itself could include exhibits featuring turtles, lizards and bugs and perhaps a vertical staircase of a certain height to allow more interesting exhibits that could be viewed from that perspective.
I also recall that the Empire State Building and Battery Park have pay per view telescopes that allow visitors to enjoy the scenic vistas in the neighborhood. Since the Aquarium has a representative on the Coney Island Development Board and official standing with most of the local politicians, I am sure that if something first class if proposed it could be accommodated to attract the kind of tourists that make New York a world class destination for visitors of all kinds from near and far.
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