Old Thunderbolt Roller Coaster (1980, 1986,1993, 2002)
Probably the most photographed scene in Coney. Built in 1925 over the former Kensington Hotel, which became a private residence and used in the “Annie Hall” movie as Woody Allen’s boyhood home. Closed in 1982, demolished in 2000. Replaced with a new steel coaster in 2014.
My first visits to this legendary park were in 1980 and ’81 when I was living in Manhattan. After moving back to the Midwest, I returned many times to photograph (1986, 1993, 2002, and 2013), witnessing a transformation from the scruffiness of the 1970s to a rebirth in the late 1990s. This gallery is just a selection of many images in my archive.