5. The Proposed Coney Island Globe Tower
Coney Island was once once one of the largest amusement areas in the United States and has always been a bit over the top. But one particular outrageous proposal never made it to fruition. In 1906, an entrepreneur/architect named Samuel Friede proposed the Coney Island Globe Tower, which if built would have been the largest steel structure and the second tallest man-made structure in the world besides the Eiffel Tower.
The 700-foot-high globe would have had 11 floors, which were to be filled with restaurants, a vaudeville theater, a roller skating rink, a bowling alley, slot machines, an Aerial Hippodrome, four large circus rings, a ballroom, an observatory, and a weather observation station. Check out what the Globe Tower would have looked like here.
A great reason to visit Coney Island today: the Coney Island Art Walls, with work by 34 renown street artists.