5. The Proposed Coney Island Globe Tower

Brooklyn, New York City
Image courtesy of Tourism Media

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.