Boiler Installation in Manhattan Beach, NY

Manhattan Beach was the most upscale of the three major resort areas that developed at Coney Island shortly after the American Civil War; the other two areas were Brighton Beach and West Brighton.

It was developed in the last quarter of the 19th century as a resort by Austin Corbin, later president of the Long Island Rail Road, for whom the street Corbin Place, which marks the boundary between Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, was named. In 1877, Corbin built the famous Manhattan Beach Hotel, followed by the even grander Oriental Hotel in 1880. The Coney Island Jockey Club horse racing track opened nearby at the same time as Corbin’s Oriental Hotel; together, these three establishments drew thousands of visitors to Manhattan Beach. The hotels held daily concerts led by famous conductors such as Conterno, Gilmore, and John Philip Sousa, and hosted elaborate nightly fireworks displays, drawing tens of thousands of visitors on summer nights and making Manhattan Beach a renowned summer seaside resort. Sousa composed the “Manhattan Beach” march in 1893 to commemorate the beach resort. Corbin, an anti-Semite who served as the secretary of the American Society for the Suppression of Jews, barred Jews from the resort. In 1895, Corbin built a 12,000 capacity third-mile concrete cycling track behind the hotel at a cost of $30,000. The U.S. Coast Guard operated a training station at Manhattan Beach during World War II.

After the deterioration of the hotel industry in the area, the site of the former Manhattan Beach hotel was developed into a residential area and into Manhattan Beach Park by the New York City Parks Department. Manhattan Beach Park opened to the public in 1955, to alleviate crowding at the neighboring beaches of Coney Island and Brighton Beach, and continues to serve the public today. From 1954 to 1959, the neighborhood was home to Manhattan Beach Air Force Station. From the 1980s, Manhattan Beach has become an enclave for higher end middle class Russian Jews. The was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.