The Bloomberg administration announced today it has agreed to pay $11 million for a piece of Coney Island boardwalk property, putting into city hands the land under much of Wonder Wheel park owned for decades by the Ward family.

The property was once sought, and nearly acquired, by Thor Equities, the largest landowner in the area which has been sparring with the Bloomberg administration for nearly two years over a vision for the amusement district. Just a few months ago, city officials referred to the site as land controlled by Thor, assuming they would need to purchase it from the developer along with most of the rest of the land along the boardwalk.  read more »

Back in the late spring, the city added a few new slides to its Coney Island redevelopment plan PowerPoint, presumably to assuage critics, that showed successively how the core amusement area has shrunk decade after decade to become just a pitiful shadow of what it once was. With the city's planned rezoning, the pitch went, Coney could come closer to its heyday and be large and lively by historic standards.

Now with Astroland apparently headed to amusement park heaven, the city added a new slide.

"Coney Island: 2009?" the slide read, showing an overhead view with active amusements highlighted in orange, and a big swath missing where Astroland is today.  read more »

It's only July and already the so-called "Summer of Hope" is winding down on Coney Island.

Gowanus Lounge is reporting that the various rides and attractions touted by controversial developer Joe Sitt back in April are currently being dismantled, apparently headed to some other carnival site in Tennessee.

Gowanus Lounge has the text of Dick Zigun's resignation letter from the Coney Island Development Corporation. The Mayor of Coney Island is rather peeved at the Bloomberg administration's current plan for the amusement mecca. As he told my colleague Eliot Brown in May, "The new plan sucks."

Mr. Zigun elaborates in his letter:  read more »

Proprietors of venerable Coney Island institution Ruby's Bar & Grill hope to reopen Friday afternoon, following vigorous repairs to replace a collapsed floor in the men's room that sent one patron to the hospital over the weekend.

Much maligned developer Joseph Sitt of Thor Equities, who owns the building, is chipping in on the cost of repairs, which were completed yesterday, according to a source at the bar.  read more »

The Health Department has shuttered venerable Ruby's Bar & Grill on the Coney Island boardwalk following a bizarre incident on Saturday, which I reported in this week's Observer.

A cop on the scene summed it up thusly: “One guy was taking a leak, the floor partially collapsed, and he fell 10 feet.”

Police closed down the bar soon after the accident on Saturday. It reopened Sunday. Then the health inspector closed it down again yesterday, according to a well-placed source on the boardwalk.

The jukebox at Ruby’s Bar & Grill was cranking out its usual eclectic mix of beachy classics—Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers In the Night,” Milli Vanilli’s “Blame It on the Rain”—this past Saturday when proprietor Michael Sarrel abruptly pulled the plug.

“Finish your drinks!” he told patrons of the venerable Coney Island venue at 5:22 p.m.  read more »

Joe Sitt, the developer who owns much of the amusement district at Coney Island, today announced a new set of rides and other amusements to fill his vacant lots for the summer. On the list for the new “Dreamland”: bumper cars, a “Giant Gondola” and a petting zoo, among others.

Mr. Sitt's efforts come as amusement enthusiasts are pushing back against the city’s new plan for Coney Island, a proposal they claim is far too generous to the landowner. The city’s prior proposal would have effectively forced Mr. Sitt to sell or swap the bulk of his land, as the city wanted to create a 15-acre city-owned amusement zone. That plan ran into opposition from local Councilman Domenic Recchia, who sided with Mr. Sitt, and thus the city was forced to compromise, given the power of local elected officials in major land-use changes.

Now the city and Mr. Sitt are negotiating over the revised plan, which Mr. Sitt has thus far resisted supporting.  read more »

Thor Equities has officially closed on 158 Madison Avenue.

Andy Warhol’s former workspace went to Joe Sitt’s firm for $28.4 million, according to city records.

It's common knowledge that Mr. Sitt and Citi Habitats founder Andy Heiberger are developing a condominium at the site that will be called Sundari Lofts and Tower. There will be a total of 50 condo units once the project is completed.  read more »