City Secrets: Coney Island-a romantic undiscovered treasure

Coney Island date

Date Day in Coney Island

What’s a great place to take your love for an inexpensive and original romantic evening? Coney Island!

You can go day or night, summer or winter and there is always something to see. I will touch on a few seasonal date ideas here, day or night, including a date that you can do right now.

First, you can get to Coney Island by taking the F train or Q train from Manhattan, which takes about 45 minutes on the subway. Get out at the last stop: Coney Island. Then walk a few blocks to the boardwalk.

Let’s start with things you can do in any season. You can immediately check out the main sites. Walk towards Brighton Beach on the boardwalk and you’ll pass the Coney Island Amusement Park and the NY Aquarium on your left. You will also have a great view of the beach and ocean on your right. If you dress warm enough, you can even walk right by the water with your date. Now that it’s chilly, the beach is practically empty and very peaceful.

If it is night time you can look up at the stars together and see the beautiful lights of the boats and the skyline across the way. You can write messages to your date in the sand and hold her close.

You can also gaze up at the Parachute Jump which is now lit up at night. They call it the Brooklyn Eiffel Tower. If you want a light dinner go to the famous Nathans (see their website at: http://www.nathansfamous.com/PageFetch/) on 1310 Surf Avenue and share some of their famous hotdogs and fries as a snack. If you want another inexpensive meal, you can go to the famous Totonnos pizza place (http://www.totonnos.com/Index-2.html ) and share a delicious pizza. Another really fun venue is the Eldorado Bumper Cars and Arcade on Surf Avenue. You and your date will have fun bumping cars to the music and lights and you will laugh!

If you reach the Brighton Beach area (which is not a far walk on the boardwalk) you can walk about two blocks to Brighton Beach Avenue. It’s a Russian area and some of the nice restaurants serve Russian food, drinks and have Russian music and dancing. A very well known elegant place is the National (http://www.come2national.com/ ) on Brighton Beach Avenue. This would probably run you $100 per person for an unforgettable evening including entertainment. Check out their website to see the menu if you want to dazzle your date. Just an hour subway ride and you will feel like you’re in another world.

If you still can’t bear to go back home, walk 5 more blocks to the Starbucks on Brighton Beach Avenue to get some dessert and coffee and you can chat for awhile.

If you have a date during the day, you can still do all of the above and you can also stop in and visit the NY Aquarium (www.nyaquarium.com ) on the boardwalk which is open all year from 10-4:30 daily and right now admission is $13 per adult. You can also go to see the Coney Island Museum at 1208 Surf Avenue, which is open Saturdays and Sundays from noon-5PM and is only 99 cents per person admission! (718-372-5159, www.coneyisland.com). In addition, Captain Bob runs wonderful Coney Island tours on Saturdays and Sundays year round at noon and 2PM for $12 per person. It will give you a great feel for the majesty and history of Coney Island. Check out his website to make sure this is still happening before you go (www.captainbob.8k.com). Another fun thing to do in the summer months is to see a Cyclones game at the stadium on the boardwalk (www.brooklyncyclones.com).

In the summer season there is karaoke on the Boardwalk, street performers and free fireworks on Friday nights. There are also great outdoor summer concerts for FREE and you can check out the schedule at www.brooklynconcerts.com/seaside.html ). There may also be a repeat appearance of the Lola Staar’s Dreamland Roller rink (http://www.dreamlandrollerrink.com/Home.html) which is a lot of fun and it is right on the Boardwalk as well. The amusement park rides are usually running too and you can sit outside and share a drink at Ruby’s bar. Who knows what will be happening this summer of 2009 because properties are changing hands as new plans for Coney Island are negotiated. But the beach, the Parachute Jump, Cyclone rollercoaster and Nathans are safe terrain and are here to stay. Do not leave without going on the Cyclone (if you are there when its warm and the park is open). To get the most current Coney Island information and links (before you come) go to www.coneyisland.com

This outing will be a very original date, all within a subway ride and a few miles walk.

If you end the date in Brighton Beach, you can take the Q train back from there to Manhattan so you don’t have to walk back to the Coney Island stop.

There you have it: The beach, skyline, Nathan’s, a Russian dinner, music and dancing and Starbucks all for a modest price. This exotic date, less than an hour by subway from the city will be one you will both remember.

I know that after you have a taste, you will fall in love with Coney Island forever. And if you do, you and your date can get involved in the future of Coney Island. Write a letter to express your wish to preserve the local and historical brilliance of this place and address it to Mayor Michael Bloomberg at City Hall, NY, NY 10007 or call 311 and leave the mayor a comment to ‘PRESERVE THE AMUSEMENTS’ or email Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn’s Borough President your opinion and vision for Coney Island at askmarty@brooklynbp.nyc.gov. I don’t know if it’s current but I also came across another email: www.saveconey@mail.com. Investors are looking to rebuild it (possibly in the image of Atlantic City). They are discussing building a hotel, condo building and some other modern amenities. While a music venue and winterized amusement park might be improvements, many lovers of Coney Island would be heart broken for it to lose its’ very individual feeling. So, as a New Yorker, speak up before it’s too late.

I write quite personally about this venue because my husband and I had our first date there and rode the Cyclone together. Later he proposed to me on the beach during the fireworks, the day that Marty Markowitz first lit up the Parachute Jump. I hope it will all still be the same when (and if) my now 7 month old son gets engaged.

So enjoy your date and let me know what you think of Coney Island. You can also share ideas for what the reconstruction should include and what should remain the same. Thanks!

My Best in Love,

Paulette

Bio:

Dr. Paulette Kouffman Sherman is a licensed psychologist and author of ‘Dating From the Inside Out: How to Use the Law of Attraction in Matters of the Heart’ by Atria Books, award Winner of the National ‘Best Books’ of 2008 in the category of Self-Help: Relationships. She’s the Director of http://www.mydatingschool.com which offers coaching and classes in unconscious mating. She was a speaker of The Learning Annex and an expert on television shows such as the CBS Early Show & the AM Northwest Early Show. She has been quoted in publications such as MSN.com, USA Weekend, Lifetime.com, Reader’s Digest, ‘Glamour,’ ‘Seventeen’ and ‘Complete Woman’ magazine.