Coney Island: the people's seafront to Brighton Beach
The boardwalk, the Cyclone, Nathan's, and the walk east to Little Odessa for Georgian food. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Nathan's Famous, Surf and Stillwell
Come out of the terminal and the original Nathan's is right there on the corner, hot dogs since 1916 and the July Fourth eating contest out front. Eat one standing up; it's the correct way to begin.

2. The Cyclone
The 1927 wooden coaster still runs, rattling and legally a landmark. You don't have to ride; the structure is half the pleasure, and the queue tells you whether the day is busy.

3. Deno's Wonder Wheel
The 1920 Ferris wheel with the swinging cars that slide on rails — the ones that lurch are not malfunctioning, they're the point. The best slow view of the beach and the boardwalk you'll get.

4. New York Aquarium
On the boardwalk a little east, the city's aquarium, rebuilt after the hurricane flooded it. A good detour with children or in heat; skippable if you're here for the seafront alone.

5. The Parachute Jump
The 1939 steel tower, once a working ride brought over from the World's Fair, now lit and inert — the borough's Eiffel, the thing on the skyline you steer by. Walk the boardwalk beneath it.

6. Brighton Beach Avenue, Little Odessa
Walk the boardwalk east until the signs turn Cyrillic. This is the Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian quarter — the food shops, the under-the-tracks bustle. Find a Georgian table for khachapuri before the B/Q home.

Coney Island: the people's seafront to Brighton Beach