Built in 1925, the Thunderbolt was one of Coney Island’s legendary wooden roller coasters, famous in part for the house located beneath its first drop. After closing in the early 1980s, it stood abandoned for nearly two decades. African American developer Horace Bullard acquired the coaster as part of plans for a new amusement park, but the project became entangled in disputes with New York City. In 2000, the city unexpectedly demolished the Thunderbolt, citing safety concerns.

I photographed the abandoned Thunderbolt in the 1990s, when Coney Island still contained large stretches of decay and empty land. I was drawn to the coaster as a survivor from the old amusement district. Only later did I learn more about Horace Bullard’s attempts to revive Coney Island and the city’s sudden demolition of the Thunderbolt in 2000.