Coney Island Hangs on With a Mix of Nostalgia and 21st-Century Sizzle It’s a quandary faced by the few original mom-and-pop concessions operating in a Coney Island now dominated by the likes of IHOP, Applebee’s and the squeaky-clean Luna Park. Is it better to evolve, or capitalize on nostalgia?

Coney Island Hangs on With a Mix of Nostalgia and 21st-Century Sizzle Coney Island’s original mom-and-pop concessions are trying to offer the right blend of old and new to compete with the razzle-dazzle of contemporary attractions.

From the archive: Coney Island's annual Mermaid Parade Something's fishy in Brooklyn.

Coney Island: Classic Photos From America's Original Playground LIFE.com presents a series of pictures that celebrate the unique, messy, vibrant energy of Coney Island.

Coney Island: Classic Photos From America's Original Playground LIFE.com presents a series of pictures that celebrate the unique, messy, vibrant energy of Coney Island.

Coney Island Then And Now: Photos That Capture The Best Things About Summer Vintage Bettmann Collection imagery from the park’s heyday gives us a peek into Coney Island’s past. But is the “People’s Playground” any less glorious now?

A Crumbling Coney Island Landmark Is Getting a Makeover A former Childs restaurant from the 1920s along the Coney Island boardwalk is being remade as an amphitheater.

Here Comes the Summer: Beautiful Color Photos of Coney Island in the Early 1960s With the summer edging ever closer, the Museum of the City of New York is putting on an exhibition of 70 -- count them -- previously unseen images of 1960s Coney Island by renowned New York photographer Aaron Rose.

Here Comes the Summer: Beautiful Color Photos of Coney Island in the Early 1960s With the summer edging ever closer, the Museum of the City of New York is putting on an exhibition of 70 -- count them -- previously unseen images of 1960s Coney Island by renowned New York photographer Aaron Rose.

Coney Island Just Got A Whole Lot Prettier Thanks To Street Artists Summer Just Got More Fun in NYC as Coney Island Reinvents Itself Again You know the scene: cotton candy, blasting music, bold font signs, city beach, sticky fingers, tattoos, carnival barkers, roll