THE BOARDWALK

Every Sunday near the pier, there was a group that set up a stereo system to play salsa, merengue, and other Latin music.  The first time I found them, I just watched, like everyone else.  I asked someone next to me why the people weren’t dancing and he said they didn’t know how.  The second time I went, I asked someone to dance and that got the group dancing.  I was wearing flipflops and I took them off. I dance for an hour before I realized the balls of my feet were blistered.  It was really painful getting home.  Maybe that’s why they didn’t dance.

If you walk east along the boardwalk from the pier at Coney Island, you’ll find loads of different types of people.  Most are there for the sea and sand, but some of them just want to walk around, some are there to fish on the pier, some just want to cool off.  There are bike riders, skateboarders, and roller-skaters.  And sandcastle builders. 

After you pass the Aquarium and the handball courts, you’re in Brighton Beach.  This is Russian territory and apartment houses line the boardwalk with a few expensive restaurants sprinkled in. I ate at one of them that had a glass floor with an aquarium underneath so you can watch the fish, but at some point, it burned down or blew up or something and I don’t know if the aquarium was replaced. 

 

On the boardwalk and sand at Brighton Beach, the older Russian women are not shy about their bodies and very often you can find them wearing their panties and bras as a two-piece bathing suit. 

Post by Alana Cash