So I am back in NY this week after being gone. Florida for 9 days and then back here because of a wedding in Mystic CT to attend. One of the things we did last Thursday was attend a Brooklyn Cyclones game. Now I have already espoused my love of minor league baseball here: http://jenniferpeterslewis.blogspot.com/2009/07/im-major-minor.html But I have never been to a Brooklyn Cyclones game. They are an offshoot of the Mets and the stadium is built on the 
site of the old "Steeplechase Park" which was one of the very first amusement parks to be built on Coney Island over 100 years ago. This is an image of the park during it's heyday. The very tall structure on the right is the famous "Parachute Jump" You can also see the "Wonder Wheel" to the left.
This park played a huge role in the history of Coney Island, and as a tribute to that history (and because it achieved Landmark Status) the stadium of the Cyclones was built around the now-defunct structure of the "Parachute Jump"
site of the old "Steeplechase Park" which was one of the very first amusement parks to be built on Coney Island over 100 years ago. This is an image of the park during it's heyday. The very tall structure on the right is the famous "Parachute Jump" You can also see the "Wonder Wheel" to the left.This park played a huge role in the history of Coney Island, and as a tribute to that history (and because it achieved Landmark Status) the stadium of the Cyclones was built around the now-defunct structure of the "Parachute Jump"
In fact, from the seats at the stadium, you can also see the "Wonder Wheel", which is still in operation as well as the Island-defining "Cyclone" roller coaster, one of the only wooden roller coasters left in the US. You can actually heart the screams of the people as they take that first dangerous drop. The stadium is beautiful and the crowd is not to be forgotten. Seats are all close to the action, and everyone seems to know everyone else. There are families, couples, teenagers, every kind of person seems to be there. They even have cheerleaders. At a baseball game.
I particularly enjoyed the man sitting behind me who told (screamed) to the umpire (after a horrendous call) that he was "too stupid to live", he should "get glasses" and "throw yourself out of the game". I loved that you could get not only an original Nathan's Famous hot dog, but, depending on your stomach, a knish, dumplings and an array of Kosher treats. I would LOVE to know what other ball park has that kind of variety! This is a view of 
what the ball park looks like today. In the distance is a view of an endless stretch of ocean. Coney Island and the image we hold of it may be gone, but this ballpark goes a long was to holding onto the Coney Island magic we all wish were still around.
You are wrong, madam. The Ferris Wheel depicted in your first image is not the Wonder Wheel. The Wonder Wheel is located to the east of the parachute jump. What your image depicts is likely a second Ferris Wheel to the Steeplechase Park site. Tilyou brought one in after the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago after claiming that he would buy the one from the worlds fair. (This claim was false, but he made such claims because that was the largest in the world at the time.) The Ferris Wheel in your image is likely not the original wheel to the Steeplechase Park site because the park caught fire in 1907 and many of the amusements had to be replaced.
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