New York’s beloved Coney Island has been in a complicated place for years now, as nearly century-old attractions like the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel share space with newer, more controversial development projects, and modern vaudeville and burlesque stars add a contemporary twist to the district’s colorful past. What’s remarkable about this short video tribute by Robert Kolodny of Land of Nod, Inc. is the way it captures the collage of traditions, characters, and time periods that make Coney Island the vital (if also perennially imperiled) place it is now. In the “love letter” below, we see romantic shots of iconic sites, meet contemporary street performers, and — perhaps most poignantly — even zoom in to catch the decades’ worth of lovers’ hearts carved into the boardwalk.
[via ANIMAL]