Coney Island History Project Remembers The Astrotower In New Video Montage

The Astrotower may be nothing more than a 5-foot stump, but Coney Island lovers will forever remember it as the swaying, 270-foot tower to the stars that it once was.

NY Curbed pointed us to this video, assembled by Charles Denson, leader of the Coney Island History Project, which captures, in photographs, the glory that once was the recently departed Astrotower.

The video starts with footage of the tower swaying and singing in the wind during Hurricane Irene and then chronicles the construction and better days for the tower in a series of classic photographs.

In an essay on the Astrotower, Denson signified that the structure stood for something more than a simple amusement:

Coney Island’s Astrotower was much more than an amusement ride. It served as a symbol of hope. To those of us living in Coney Island in the early 1960s, the tower represented the future of Coney Island, a sign that the neighborhood would survive the city’s urban renewal schemes.

Great job, Charles, and keep up the good work.