The iconic Coney Island Boardwalk, built in the 1920s, attracts visitors from around the world.

Now, after a nearly-decade-long community effort, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission is considering whether to make the boardwalk an official landmark.

"Some other neighborhoods in New York City, some communities have the capacity and the means to hire expensive people to lobby on their behalf," Brooklyn City Councilman Mark Treyger said. "We didn't do that. This was an old fashioned, hard work, grassroots effort."

There was an outcry nine years ago when the city parks department under Mayor Michael Bloomberg considered converting the entire 2.7-mile boardwalk to concrete.

The city eventually replaced some wooden sections, saying the change would save money and the rainforests. But community members argued that the city was making the boardwalk just another sidewalk.

"Essentially, any material other than wood that makes the boardwalk by definition a boardwalk is seen by the community as inherently antithetical to a boardwalk," said Rob Burstein, the president of of Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance.

The commission rejected an application for landmark status three years ago, saying the boardwalk had been altered too many times, and that Coney Island was a historic destination before the boardwalk was built.

But the application returned to the commission after pressure from Treyger and the community.

"When they constructed this boardwalk, it was really the connective tissue that united neighborhoods, united people from all walks of life," said the councilman, whose district includes the neighborhoods of Bensonhurst, Gravesend, and Sea Gate, in addition to Coney Island.

But it is not clear how much protection the commission can provide.

Because it is considered part of the landscape, the boardwalk can only be designated a scenic landmark, like Central Park or Ocean Parkway.

The designation would prevent the boardwalk from being dismantled, but the city's Public Design Commission would have final say on any proposal to replace more wood with concrete. The Landmarks Commission's role would only be advisory.

Still, some say that's better than nothing.

"It's another layer of oversight for the boardwalk and any proposed changes," said Kate Lemos McHale, the director of research for the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The commission is scheduled to vote on the landmark designation May 15. If it passes, it then goes on to the full city council for approval.