For someone who remembers the amusement parks of old, this place reeks of childhood nostalgia. Gorky Park still has an air of innocent fun absent of crass commercialism. No overweening corporate presence here, nor crowds. It's almost touching to watch the ride operators load their charges into the rides and to hear the tots laugh as they are whirled around, all enjoying the moment and seemingly oblivious of the real-world outside which will ineluctably doom this place as its brethren in the US and elsewhere have been. My favorite, Riverview in Chicago, is now a shopping mall. Hard by the Moscow River and within sight of the Kremlin, this must be incredibly valuable real estate. A generation from now, when some of those who are now tots pass the expensive condos or theme park occupying this site, I wonder if they will feel the same way?