Coney Island is a peninsula (and formerly an island) located in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA, with a famous beach lying on the Atlantic Ocean. The eponymous neighborhood is a community of 60,000 people in the western part of the peninsula, with Seagate to its west, and Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east. To the north is Gravesend.

The area was formerly a major resort and home of amusement parks, reaching its peak in popularity in the early 20th century but declining after World War II. In recent years, the area has been revitalized by the opening of KeySpan Park, home to the successful Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team.

The Native American inhabitants of the area called the island Narrioch, "land without shadows", because, in common with other south shore Long Island beaches, its compass orientation keeps the beach area in sunlight all day.

The Dutch name for the island was Conyne Eylandt, or Konijn Eiland (Rabbit Island) using modern Dutch spelling. This name is found on the New Netherland map of 1639 by Johannes Vingboon. (New York State and New York City were originally Dutch Settlements, referred to as New Netherland and New Amsterdam respectively.). As with other Long Island barrier islands, Coney Island was virtually overrun with rabbits, and rabbit hunting was common until the resorts were developed and most open space eliminated.


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