Memorial Day. Coney Island. Brooklyn, USA

This weekend saw the opening of the first all-new amusement park in Coney Island since Astroland opened in 1962. That it was situated exactly where Astroland stood until 2 years ago added a feeling of unease for many of us. That said, you can’t stop progress, and when progress comes in the form of the newest, coolest, shiniest amusement rides you’ve ever seen, and when they attract record crowds and make everyone feel good about Coney Island again after last year’s thematic interpretation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, well, you can’t complain either.

the cleared Astroland lot around February.

The pinwheel designs are a near recreation of the original Luna Park's grand entrance, a block west on Surf Avenue.

Meanwhile, this same weekend, I showed Last Summer at Coney Island at a benefit screening in Williamsburg’s UnionDocs film center. It was the first public exhibition of the film and people liked it! They really liked it! And they weren’t all my friends. Though special mention should go to my friend Casey who somehow made it to the screening, despite the fact that he’s in the midst of an epic cross-country bike trip. (which you can read all about HERE.)

The local Brooklyn newspaper group published an article about my film and the benefit event. Check it out.

http://24sevenbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2010/05/swan-song-for-coney.html