The dim tunnels of the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station and the enticing lights of Coney Island can seem worlds apart at times — but a new art installation from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is bringing them closer together than ever.
The agency has turned the hallways into a display of the People’s Playground’s iconic neon, as rendered in time-lapse pictures by acclaimed photographer Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao. Liao’s images turn the glitz and sparkle that have attracted millions of Brooklynites and tourists from across the globe into hypnotic wheels of soft color.
“He brings us into the crowd, on the Boardwalk, in front of the rides, the subway station and Nathan’s — everything one would want from an evening in Coney Island,” said Lester Burg, manager of MTA Arts for Transit and Urban Design.
Burg said he hopes the exhibit will get commuters to hop aboard the Q, N, or F train and ride down to Sodom by the Sea — where the beloved amusements recently re-emerged from the aftremath of last year’s hurricane.
“As businesses return and the attractions gear up again after Superstorm Sandy, we thought it was timely to remind straphangers how wonderful Coney Island is,” Burg said.
Reach reporter Will Bredderman at wbredderman@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4507. Follow him at twitter.com/WillBredderman.
