The 2.5-mile-long boardwalk with amusement parks, numerous snack bars and game booths has been a popular escape for New Yorkers with urban fatigue ever since its creation. Nathan Handwerker opened his first hot dog stand here in 1916, and the world’s longest wooden roller-coaster, The Cyclone, began operating in 1927. A short walk along the beach leads to another attraction: the oldest continuously operating aquarium in the United States.