Fairyland 2361 Utica Ave. (Flatbush Ave.), Brooklyn 718-951-9302
I always pictured someone like Alex Chilton from the Box Tops living year-round at Coney Island, wandering around the boarded-up clam shacks in the winter, rambling past the demons on the Hell Hole ride or the attack dogs locked up in the steel cages of the Wonder Wheel. Coney Island is such a wonderful, seedy landscape, with just the right blend of history and desolation, especially with that abandoned roller coaster that's getting swallowed up by vines and weeds, the one that looks like it was the scene of a horrible accident that happened 30 years ago this very night...
But maybe you want an amusement park that's a little more accessible, a little friendlier, one you can take the tots to. If so, Fairyland is the perfect place for you and the family. It's in Flatbush, at the end of the number 2 subway line (and a short bus ride after that). It's been run by the Miller family for 48 years, first by Irving and then by his son Stu and his son-in-law Jay. They are remarkably good-natured guys, considering they are grown men who have to say, "Hello, Fairyland," every time they answer the phone. In fact, the whole place has a resolute cheerfulness about it, from its small scale to the weathered wooden signs and depictions of nursery rhyme and fairytale characters that dot the park. (Although some were not so readily recognizable, such as the one that was a cross between a witch and an egg, I did like the spaceman who seemed to be emerging from the hedge along the fence.) The rides are all the ones you remember from your dad's company picnic: the little boats, the miniature fire trucks and the helicopters that you get to control. The roller coaster is about as tame as a stepladder, but that didn't stop the kids on it from shrieking in delight as it went into its...what's the opposite of hairpin?... turns. It's a great backdrop for taking black-and-white pictures that look like they could have been taken 40 years ago, and there's also an arcade attached. Even if you don't want to play pinball, you can purchase a couple of the nifty tokens with an eagle on one side and the legend "No Cash Value" on the other.
After the magical delights of Fairyland, you can repair to the New Floridian diner across the way, which, truthfully, seemed to be filled with Old Floridians. They take advantage of the Early Bird Special while the guys who look like extras from The Sopranos choose from the 20-page menu. We sat at a table with its own jukebox and drank Singapore Slings. They even let me take home one of their palm-tree plates as a souvenir.
The park is open from 10 a.m. to sunset during the winter. Tickets are $1.75, or you can purchase five rides for $7. Admission is free.