Yes, the politicians and the Parks Department bureaucrats set up their own photo opportunity on the beach at Coney Island yesterday, but who wants to look at Borough President Markowitz cut a ribbon when you can see real flesh-and-blood Brooklynites having fun in the sun?
But just because he’s less photogenic than The Brooklyn Paper’s unofficial summer beach team (right) doesn’t mean that Markowitz didn’t string together a lot of apropos cliches at yesterday’s official opening of the beach at Coney.
“Why drive to somewhere outside the city to fulfill your family’s summer entertainment needs?” said Markowitz. “Who needs Six Flags when you’ve got the world-famous Cyclone? Spend a fortune on a theme park? Fuhgeddaboudit! This summer, like every summer, belongs to Coney Island – America’s favorite playground and the ‘apple’ of this city’s eye.”
Don’t rush to the beach today, though – it’s still officially closed until Saturday at 10 am, when Parks Department lifeguards (who were camera shy yesterday, much to our “Baywatch”-loving photographer’s chagrin) will be on duty.
They’ll don their white nose paint and guard your life through Labor Day.
The opening of the beach is just the first benchmark of the summer. Next weekend, on Saturday, May 30, the Brooklyn Half-Marathon will change its route so that the 10,000 runners finish, instead of start, in Coney Island – a move that will provide a nice boost to the local economy.
And maybe Joe Sitt’s “Festival By the Sea” will be fully up and running by then.