It is official: the re-development project of Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY into a "richer" tourist attraction has been approved. The ramshackle cluster of "mom-n-pop" arcades could be in their last season this year.

The city plans on building hotels, retail, and a new amusement park which will drive up the rental costs and land value, potentially driving these owners away.

Since I am not certain of the fate of the Coney Island arcades (the largest, Faber's Fascination, has 23 machines), I will chronicle them here as best as I can, and maybe toss in a picture or two.

For reference, here are the five Coney Island arcades as I know them:

Coney Island Arcade: http://www.aurcade.com/locations/view.aspx?id=114
Astroland Arcade: http://www.aurcade.com/locations/view.aspx?id=115
Astroland Games: http://www.aurcade.com/locations/view.aspx?id=118 UPDATE 08.16.09: Officially CLOSED. Now a Mexican eatery.
Faber's Fascination: http://www.aurcade.com/locations/view.aspx?id=443
El Dorado Arcade: http://www.aurcade.com/locations/view.aspx?id=113
Sam's Arcade: http://www.aurcade.com/locations/view.aspx?id=515 ADDED 08.16.09

Wikipedia info on Coney Island:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coney_island

Check back soon for photos and other updates!

Astroland Games arcade along the boardwalk has closed! It is now a Mexican eatery. Is this the beginning of the end? That was the only arcade that you could walk right into straight from the Boardwalk.

I went down there this weekend and found a new arcade located within Astroland. And even better, I discovered that Astroland Arcade got rid of their redemption games, and replaced them with new additions and even some old games, such as 6 player X-Men, Terminator 2, and Rolling Thunder! Since these arcades are slated to close, if you are interested in any of these machines, you may want to inquire. When I am done getting the pictures of these places, I will post.

Here are a few photos I took today at Coney Island. From the looks of things, this particular section of the Amusement Park is closing. Here is a view of the entrance to the Dreamland section of Astroland...



Looks a bit "closed" eh?

And here is the entrance to Sam's Arcade....a new entry I had made only a few weeks ago (http://www.aurcade.com/locations/view.aspx?id=515)



Entrance to the small Dreamland arcade area (http://www.aurcade.com/locations/view.aspx?id=444



I suspect Dreamland arcade is closed too. I have tracked 7 arcade locations at Coney Island now...and since my initial announcement of the new development news, it seems potentially 3 of these locations have closed. Check back for more updates and fun Coney Island photos!

After a brief visit to the fabled Nathan's Hot Dog stand, I did a quick peek over near where Coney Island Arcade used to be, and it burned to the ground!

With the new Luna Park already open, I will stop by again soon to update the Coney Island locations and provide some in depth photos of the area.

Just for fun, some history of the original Luna Park:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_Park,_Coney_Island