The phone rings at the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce, and 86-year-old Matt Kennedy answers a common question: "Yes, of course Coney Island still exists. Yes, it's bigger and better than ever. Thank you."

Kennedy is one of many longtime Coney Island employees whom producer David Isay interviewed for this audio portrait of Brooklyn's famous shoreline amusement park. Many of Coney Island's institutions are still around, even if Coney Island's hey-day has passed: Philip's Candies (founded in 1907), Nathan's Famous Hotdogs, and the legendary Cyclone roller-coaster.

According to the Cyclone's devoted repairman Walter Williams, Coney Island -- and the Cyclone in particular -- are here to stay. "The Cyclone will stand forever. It will be here as long as peoples is here. And as long as peoples is here, I feel though that the world will be here and as the world is here I think the Cyclone will be here too . . . as long as it has someone to take care of it as I do."

Producer: David Isay / Supervising Engineer: Caryl Wheeler / Musical assistance: John Manbeck

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This piece is available in the following audio formats [17:40 min]:
		28.8 kbps Real Audio
		56 kbps Real Audio
		ISDN Real Audio

		intro
		transcript

		Holding On, a book which includes an oral history based on this documentary
		"Under the Roller Coaster," a short radio piece about the house beneath the Thunderbolt
		"Coney Island," a Dadaist tone poem by Victor Packer, c1940

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