Decline & Fall of Fun: Michael Maher Administers Last Rites to Coney Island

Australian filmmaker Michael Maher, who shot a documentary about the gentrification of the Chelsea Hotel and Chelsea neighborhood for his "Postcards from New York" series, is back in action again, having set in sights on another threatened New York institution, Coney Island. In case you haven't heard, what's happening out there, is that developers are tearing down most of the seedy old amusement park so they can build condos for rich people who, apparantly, don't like to have fun.  (Is anyone taking bet on how long it will be before they complain about noise, drunks, etc., from the Cyclones ballpark next door.)
     The film features interviews with Coney Island characters such as Captain Bob and Freak Show Kingpin Dick Zigum, and a great aerial shot of Coney at night.  So check out the film, and get out to Coney for one last hot dog before seriousness triumphs once and for all over frivolity.  (Oh well, at least they they transformed Times Square into Disneyland.)