What 10 People Wore to the Coney Island Boardwalk on a Friday Night

A strong waft of strawberry vape juice drifts over the crowd across the boardwalk from the Wonder Wheel. No one pays it any mind — they’re swept up in the karaoke rendition of Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” that four sunburned teenagers in “CONEY ISLAND” sweatshirts are performing on a small stage near the beach railing. Around the stage, everyone is jumping and swaying with their hands in the air — parents wrangling sandy kids wrapped in floral-print towels, couples in their finest roller-coaster-date garb, clusters of 20-somethings gearing up for another rowdy summer weekend. Further down the boardwalk, a large group of geared-up bikers chows down outside Nathan’s while four different speakers compete for the eardrums of anyone within 500 feet. Everyone is gathered for Coney’s first Friday-night fireworks of the summer — and, amid a particularly nasty New York heat wave, for some much-welcome beachy air movement.

Harleen

What brings you here? I went to the aquarium with my boyfriend — it’s our first summer together. We spent, like, three or four hours there and came here right after. It’s my first time at Coney Island.

How did you pick this outfit? I’m big into soccer. I’ve been playing for 15 years now. I’m from Brazil and I saw yellow and green at Forever 21 and was like, I like this outfit. The purse is from Macy’s.

How would you describe your style? Sporty, chic, easy. I love being comfortable, and I love something that screams color. My accessories have to be flamboyant. I like bits of red. My iPhone is red, and I got a clear case just so you can see the red.

What else are you guys doing tonight? I want to go on the Ferris wheel and a couple of rides. I love an adrenaline rush.

Gregory

What are you doing on the boardwalk? We’re celebrating my aunt’s birthday and my nephew’s graduation.

Do you live nearby? Born and bred in New York City. Well, Manhattan. Everything is near Coney Island. It’s within a two-hour reach.

How do you like to dress? I am the pajama man. It looks good, it feels good. I can swim, I can work hard, I can sweat, I can work out, I can sleep with these on, so why not?

Do you do all that with those on? Absolutely. And with my rings. You earn every ring.

Are your nails always gold? Only metallic. You don’t wanna push it too overboard, and you don’t wanna be too ordinary.

Where do you get your pajamas? I design them mostly. But a place I recommend for pajamas? One hundred percent Chinatown.

Mike & Tamara

How long have you been hanging out with snakes?

Mike: I’ve been doing this since 2008. I always had a thing for reptiles. I used to live in South Florida, so I knew to do my research, where to get ’em from. Once I did that, everything came together.

Does your snake have a name?

Mike: This one’s name is Tyson, he’s a boa constrictor. That’s a red tegu from Argentina named Lacy, and that’s my green iguana named Truth.

Tell me about your sunglasses.

Mike: These are Versace. They’re my go-to pair.

Do you ever consider the snakes when you’re getting dressed?

Mike: I just wear whatever. When I’m dealing with my reptiles, I like to wear trunks just in case they poop on me, but that’s about it.

What’s your snake’s name?

Tamara: Baby Bones Mama.

What do you like about working with reptiles?

Tamara: They’re very affectionate, and they make people happy. We make the boardwalk nice and adventurous and exciting for other people.

How do you like to dress?

Tamara: I like to be fashionable with colors, straps, flowers, dazzles, gems, and everything else.

Tell me about this outfit. 

Tamara: I got this outfit from Rainbow, actually. I got the earrings down at Jamaica Avenue. I took one of them off for the snake.

Zypher & Kira

How did you two become friends? 

Kira: We met on TikTok. I think you showed up on my “For You” page at some point?

Zypher: I think you commented when I was in New York. And then I hit you up.

I live here now.

What brought you to New York?

Zypher: I used to live here when I was a kid, and my uncle who was really close to me was from here. He died, and I came back ’cause I’m pulled here. I feel like he can protect me.

What are you wearing?

Kira: These are Converse. I had a pair in 2016 when the original knee-highs were popular, and my mom threw them out because they were worn. She was, like, “I’m gonna get you a fresh pair, don’t worry.” A year later we went to Journeys, but they had discontinued the Converse knee-highs and I was devastated. These are from Depop, and they’re just as worn on the bottom. These Miss Me shorts were skinny jeans, but I cut them today. The bikini I’m wearing is Victoria’s Secret, and this bag is from my mom. I use it as a beach bag ’cause it holds a lot of stuff. My mom has a lot of nice stuff. I just steal her stuff a lot.

Zephyr: I consider myself a goth. I was like, Okay, beach vibes, so let’s go … beachy goth?

Kira : It’s very surf bat.

Zypher: I’ve been feeling really gloomy lately, like I wanna be a creepy ghoul in the corner, so that’s kinda what I’m giving today, I guess. These items are from random thrift stores, Funkytown, Demonia, and Killstar. The bag is from Poshmark. I just saw cute skulls and I was like, That’s mine.

Any post-fireworks plans? 

Kira: We’re just gonna chill, walk around. We don’t wanna buy any food here, it’s so overpriced.

Juliet & Patrick

What brings you to the beach tonight?

Juliet: We were taking a little tour of Brooklyn. The younger kids are Brooklyn-born and they’re on a visit. We’ve lived in Park Slope for several decades.

What do you do?

Juliet: I’m a professor at CUNY BMCC near ground zero. I’ve been teaching since I was 18 but seven years as a college professor. I love it.

How do you two like to dress?

Patrick: Oh, boy.

Juliet: It depends on the occasion. Anytime we go out, my husband is admired for how he puts his clothes together. He dresses himself. I have nothing to do with it! He knows how to dress well.

Patrick: She dresses well.

Juliet: This outfit is from a designer called The Fold in the U.K. It’s a company I like and have been following for a few years. It does clothing for professional women. Besides that, I like those little sample shops where you can get things nobody else would have. When I was that size, I would buy whatever I would possibly look good in.

Naomi

Are you on a family outing? 

This is my grandpa here. We live in Georgia and are on vacation, so we came to see him.

How would you describe your style in three words?

How I feel.

How did you put this outfit together?

This jean jacket is an old thing my mom had in her closet from back in the day. It’s Rocawear. This top is a basic from Shein that I had, and these are some platform Converse.

Have you ever thought of raiding your grandma’s closet?

I don’t know where her closet is! I would, though.

Felicity

How did you put this outfit together? My priority for today was that it was very hot, so I wanted to be cool. I’m wearing Adidas Gazelles, some Lee jeans that I cut off into shorts, and this top is by a New Zealand designer that my best friends gave to me as a gift. My usual style is probably, like, color, casual, comfortable, fun.

What colors do you like? I have so much yellow, blue, and brown. I always wear something in that color palette. This is probably the maximum amount of color I’ve ever done.

Is this your first time at Coney Island? I’ve never been. We live in Park Slope, so I wanted to check out the fireworks. We’re from New Zealand, so this is a very different vibe. It’s fun, but I didn’t expect it to be this hot.