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Opening of Coney Island Cycle Path

Edgar S. Thomson

This bicycle path, in the center of the grand Ocean Parkway, is still in use today. Stretching from Prospect Park to Coney Island, it provided easy access to the beach from the central parts of Brooklyn. Around the turn of the twentieth century, a new type of safer bicycle made biking cheaper and easier and contributed to the widespread use of the bicycle by both men and women for leisure and transportation. The bicycle also became a symbol of free, mobile women and was an important tool for female emancipation. By this time, however, many more railroad lines and large steamships linked Coney Island to the city, enabling larger crowds than ever to spend the weekend at the beach.
MEDIUM glass plate negative
DATES 1896
ACCESSION NUMBER 1996.164.7-51
CREDIT LINE Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Edgar S. Thomson (American, active 1890s-1900s). Opening of Coney Island Cycle Path, 1896. glass plate negative Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, 1996.164.7-51 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.164.7-51_glass_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 1996.164.7-51_glass_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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