Coney Island native is steeped in neighborhood’s history
One of the saddest days of Charles Denson’s life took place when he was a boy growing up in Coney Island and he watched through a fence as bulldozers tore down the last of the rides in Steeplechase Park. It was 1966 and the once-iconic amusement park was being demolished.
“It was a transitional time. Steeplechase Park was closing down. It was one of the saddest times of my life, watching them tear the park apart,” Denson told this newspaper in a phone interview on July 30.
By the 1960s, Coney Island had become bleak. Crime increased and residents walked down the street looking over their shoulders.