The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 95

mlon electric fights iUuminatedW'tha -Siwin "Till ligntLunaParkas mals, hootchy-kootchy dancers, midget villages, games of chance, Roman chariot races, imaginary trips to the moon and to hell, and re-creations of the Johnstown Flood and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Most dazzling of all, to turn-of-the-century visitors, were the millions of From previous page town of immigrants. Nowadays, it's Russians, South Americans, Middle Easterners. In the early 1900s, it was Jews, Germans, Italians, Irish. The resort on the tip of Brooklyn (it was named for the once-abundant coneys, or rabbits) was the first glimpse of America that European immigrants had as they sat anchored in the harbor, waiting for the tide to turn.

WiPi ft i i twinkling lightbulbs. For an America just entering the age of alternating current, the effect was well, electrifying. "That's what got Coney Island the nickname 'City of Urbanowicz J'mmmwm en says. It was real fires that eventually gutted Dreamland (1911) and Luna Park (1945). Steeplechase soldiered on, scoring a coup in 1941 when it imported the Parachute Drop from the 1939 New York World's Fair, but finally in 1964 even Steeplechase went dark.

If not for the presence of Astroland, a latecomer that opened in 1962, Coney's amusement days would probably have ended with I know the rumor is that the hrst thing they saw was the Statue of Liberty, but it wasn't," Urbanowicz says. "It was Dreamland and Luna Park, with its millions of lights. Here they were, waiting to start their new life, and this must have looked like the ultimate fantasy come true." Those two parks, and a third Steeplechase were what gave Coney Island its reputation in the early 1900s as America's ultimate pleasure ground. Coney started small a carousel (1876), a roller coaster (1884), a hotel in the shape of an elephant (her cousin, Lucy, still resides in Margate). But then in 1897, amusement entrepreneur George C.

Tilyou opened his Steeplechase Park, a vast, glassed-in amusement palace that featured such attractions as the "human roulette wheel" and El Dorado, an immense, three-tiered wedding cake of a carousel. The signature ride of Steeplechase was the steeplechase itself a mechanical horse race in which wooden steeds chased each other along parallel tracks that encircled the park. "The heavier riders usually won, because heavier horses moved faster," Urbanowicz says. "The legend is that single fat women used to stand by the entrance to the Steeplechase ride, and guys would ask to ride with them." That kind of courtship was typical of Coney Island, known as a place where the rigid social rules of the early 1900s were relaxed. In a world of corsets and chaper-ones, Coney was a place where couples the crash of city planner Robert Moses' wrecking ball.

Today, against all odds, carousels still twirl and coasters still coast at Coney. But like two maps superimposed on each other one solid lines, one broken hash-marks the real Coney Island seems to co-exist with a ghost Coney Island, the phantom of its own past That's part of the magic of the place, Urbanowicz says. "Sometimes you walk around here either late at night, or when it's quiet, and you really do feel the past," he says. "It's uke the ground is vibrating with everything that's been here." CONEY ISLAND: Astroland (718) 372-0275; Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, (718) 372-2592; New York Aquarium, (718) 265-3474. Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk, Brooklyn.

Take the New Jersey Turnpike to Exit 13; Goethals Bridge to Staten Island Expressway east to Ver-razano Bridge; take Belt Parkway east to Exit 7S (Ocean Parkway). Follow Ocean Parkway to Boardwalk and Surf Avenue. Every summer, a handful are married on the Cyclone or the Wonder Wheel, Coney's other famous holdout, the pride of Deno's Wonder Wheel Park. Opened in 1920, the Wonder Wheel is a one-of-a-kind amusement machine a combination Ferris wheel and thrill ride where the cars slide and plunge along steel rails at alarming heights. "We had a full-fledged Jewish wedding last year, with a rabbi, and kosher cuisine from Nathan's," says Dennis Vourderis, co-owner of Deno's.

"The wedding party were loaded in the cars, and we rigged the bride and groom's car for wireless sound. When the couple exchanged vows at the top, we broadcast the sound up from the ground, so that everybody on the ride could hear." The success of Steeplechase Park, in the early 1900s, led to others. Between them, they turned early 20th century Coney Island into a riot of thrill rides, circus ani could neck in the tunnel of love, and women had their skirts blown up by blasts of fun-house air. "Rides were designed to throw people against each other," Urbanowicz says. "It was kind of like a mutual lap-dance.

At home, if a girl wanted to sit between a guy's legs, her reputation would be ruined. But at Coney Island, on the Steeplechase, it was OK" Something of that raffish atmosphere has always clung to Coney, Edward Klein remembers. He's 74 and recalls coming here as a child. "Coney Island had a reputation for being wilder than any other area, because of the rides and the honky-tonk atmosphere," says Klein, promenading on the Boardwalk with his wife, Wilma. Couples of all ages still flock to Coney.

Coney spawned imitators and antidotes SO 743 south); follow signs to Hershey. (717)534-3900. Jenldnsotfs Pier, Point Pleasant: Garden State Parkway south to Exit 98, take 34 south to 35 south, go 3 miles, make left at light onto Arnold Avenue, make left on Ocean Avenue. Jenkin-son's is two blocks down on right (732) 899-0569. Keansburg Amusement Park: Garden State Parkway south to Exit 1 17 to Route 36 east to the turnoff for Keansburg.

(732) 495-1400. Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elys-burg, Pa: Route 78 west to Route 61 north to Route 54 west to Route 487 north, then follow signs. (800) 487-4386. Land of Make Believe, Hope: Route 80 west to Exit 12; left at bottom of ramp onto Route 521 south. Follow signs.

(908) 459-9000. Moray's Pier, Mariner's Landing, Wildwood: Garden State Parkway south to Exit 4, then follow signs for Wildwood. (609) 522-3900. Playtand, Rye, N.Y.: George Washington Bridge to Route 95 north to Exit 19; follow Playland Parkway llk miles to park. (914) 813-7010.

Sesame Place, Langhorne, Pa: New Jersey Turnpike south to Exit Route 18 north to Route 1 south. Exit at Oxford Valley, turn left, and follow signs. (215) 752-7070. Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson: New Jersey Turnpike south to Exit 7A, then Route 195 east to Exit 16. Follow signs for park.

(732) 928-1821. Wonderland Pier, Ocean City: Garden State Parkway south to Exit 30; continue to circle, take exit for Ocean City. Go over bridge, make left at light onto Bay Avenue, go three blocks, make right onto Sixth Street continue to Wayne Avenue. (609) 399-7082. of big-ticket resort destinations.

Old-style or cutting edge, there's no shortage of amusement parks to visit in the metro area this summer. Here are a few: Bowcraft Amusement Park, Scotch Plains: Garden State Parkway south to Exit 140A; take Route 22 west to park. (908)233-0675. Casino Pier, Funtown Pier, Seaside Heights: Garden State Parkway south to Exit 82, then Route 37 east to Seaside Heights. (732) 793-6488.

Clementon Amusement Park: Route 295 south to Exit 26, then Route 42 south to BlackwoodVClementon exit; Route 534 east for 4xh. miles, park is on right (856) 783-0263. Domey Park, Allentown, Route 78 west into Allentown; follow signs. (610) 395-3724. Hershey Park, Hershey, Route 78 west to 81 south to Exit 28 (Route By JIM BECKERMAN STAFF WRITER Coney Island is the granddaddy of amusement resorts.

Theme parks, boardwalk attractions, and pleasure grounds of all kinds are its children. Some, like Casino Pier and Funtown Pier in Seaside Heights, were directly inspired by Coney's seaside setting. Others, like Clementon Amusement Park, sprang up at the end of trolley lines, as a way to drum up weekend ridership. Still others, like Six Flags Great Adventure, are part of a newer "theme park" tradition begun by Walt Disney partly as a reaction to Coney. "Dirty, phony places run by tough-looking people," is how Disney described the Coney Island type of park with its sailors, sex, and seedl-ness.

Disneyland, opened in 1955, was the anti-Coney Island a wholesome family place that ushered in a new era.