You Had To Be There

I had a discussion today with Eddie about growing up in the Coney Island Houses. We were talking about the pictures that Merrill sent me (they're posted to the right) and how young we looked. Eddie's daughters were amazed at his lack of chest hair! We spoke of how lucky we felt to grow up there and how wonderful it was to live in Coney Island during that time. We had so many friends and never a lack of things to do or places to explore. The funny thing is that no matter who I've talked to from the old neighborhood, we all have the same feelings and recollections of our childhood. I've been a social worker for over 30 years and I know that no childhood is without pain and frustration. My conclusion is that we aren't all suffering from group amnesia. It was a wonderful place to grow up and I hope that all who did will contribute to this blog. You know those days are long gone if you've been there recently and see what things are like now. However, in my mind's eye nothing has changed and I still feel the breeze and hear all the sounds coming from the Big Park. Oh, and most of us didn't have any chest hair either.

Here’s a video I shot of the old neighborhood in June 2000…. before everything changed forever.

Joey DePinto
08/16/2008


Coney Island 2000 from Joseph A DePinto on Vimeo.