Community Issue-Coney Island Boardwalk

Above are some pictures that I took of the old, deteriorating boardwalk.

I decided to cover the Coney Island boardwalk after reading an article in the New York Daily News about its deteriorating structure. In the article, the reporters examined the worst section of the boardwalk, where the boards are falling apart and there are many loose nails. I decided to do my own analysis of the boardwalk by walking through its entire three mile stretch along the Coney Island beach. It was a nice day so I did not mind walking on the boardwalk.

When I examined the different areas of the boardwalk, I noticed some decaying areas that were not discussed in the Daily News article. There was one particular section that was almost as bad as the section that the article focused on. I also analyzed the section depicted in the article and as I walked through that section, I felt like the boards underneath me were going to collapse. After walking along the boardwalk for about an hour, I started to approach people on the boardwalk to ask them some questions. At first, some of the people that I approached did not want to say one word to me and just walked away. After many attempts, I was able to talk to about five or six people, who provided me with great, brief stories about how they fell on the boardwalk recently over broken boards and loose nails. Their stories and quotes were very helpful to me for this assignment. Despite some struggles talking to people in the beginning and having to watch some of the steps that I took to avoid tripping over the boards and nails, I enjoyed my experience on the boardwalk.