SEE: Park Slope Native's Photos Celebrate Decades Of Coney Island

BROOKLYN, NY — Whether it's the fire-ravaged boardwalks of the 1970s, or the bustling streets of the Mermaid Parade — there are some Coney Island memories that, not for a careful photographer's eye, would have been "lost in time," according to local royalty.

"Coney Island is an enchanted destination where magic moments are plentiful but fleeting," said Bambi the Mermaid, one of the the parade's famous Queens of Coney Island.

In this case, that careful photographer's eye belongs to Park Slope native Larry Racioppo, who has dedicated much of his five-decade career to chronicling the only-in-Brooklyn moments of the borough's past.

His latest exploration includes 112 photographs of "America's Playground" captured in a new book, "CONEY ISLAND BABY," that was released this month.

The photos, spanning the last five decades, chronicle the "fall and rise" of the historic amusement park.

"I am grateful for Larry’s photographs, which have captured the sentiments, nostalgia and glory that would otherwise have been lost in time...beautiful memories of our beloved seaside kingdom, home to dreamers, visionaries and mermaids," Bambi said.

Along with essays from Dreamland author Kevin Baker and founder of Coney Island USA Dick Zigun, the 120-page book includes Racioppo's personal notes about the various moments in time.

"It looked like all of the ‘old Coney’ was being torn down and swept away,” he writes about the 1970s, when fires destroyed the boardwalk and classic rides like the Tornado rollercoaster were demolished.

Later, he reflects on the businesses that stayed, the artists who moved in and the creation of the Mermaid Parade, which started in 1983.

"People returned to pack the boardwalk, ride the new Thunderbolt rollercoaster, and swim in the ocean," he writes.

The book has already received praise from both Coney Island and New York City historians, including from City of New York museum curator Sean Corcoran, who calls it "A must read for any Coney enthusiast."

It comes several years after Racioppo's last anthology of photos, entitled "Brooklyn Before." Racioppo has worked as a photographer for the New York City Department of Housing and on his own projects since 1971.

Take a sneak peek at his Coney Island photos here: