Coney Island Back In Business

Coney Island Back In Business

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
When Hurricane Sandy struck, it devastated businesses all over New York City. One area hit particularly hard was Coney Island, an iconic New York beach at the tip of South Brooklyn. At the time, we reported on the damage to a family-owned amusement park, Deno’s Wonderwheel Amusement Park, home to the Wonder Wheel, bumper cars, and the Spook-A-Rama. We reported that the place was basically doomed. But it turns out, our report was a kind of premature obituary for the business. We return to the amusement park, about 5 months after the storm, and find things shockingly normal. Businesses like Deno’s are back and some of them are thriving. On today’s show, an economic case study. What brought Coney Island back so quickly?