Coney Island | The New York Observer

Sitt Comes Back to Bloomberg, This Time for a Brooklyn BJ's

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:54:26 -0400

Joe Sitt, the landlord who battled with the Bloomberg administration at Coney Island, is coming back to city officials with a new request: He wants to put a big-box mall in South Brooklyn.

Mr. Sitt’s Thor Equities is seeking to build a 214,000-square-foot mall highlighted by a BJ’s Wholesale Club, along with space for three other retail stores. The company has filed for a rezoning of the site, a peninsula off Shore Parkway in...

Details on the Coney Vote! City-Sitt Negotiations Continue; Four New Hotels Possible; $137 M. in Infrastructure

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:56:39 -0400

The City Council approved the Bloomberg administration-backed rezoning of Coney Island on Wednesday afternoon in a 44-2-1 vote. While the city is still negotiating with the rezoned area’s main private landlord—Thor Equities’ Joe Sitt—the two long-opposed parties may be close to reaching a final deal.

The rezoning plan would turn vacant lots currently zoned for amusements into a residential area, and would allow some hotels, retail, and indoor amusements into the central amusement area...

City Council Expected to Pass Coney Island Rezoning

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:19:04 -0400

City Council members, including local Councilman Domenic Recchia and Speaker Christine Quinn, held a press conference early Wednesday afternoon to say that the Council was expected to pass the Bloomberg administration–backed rezoning of Coney Island.

The rezoning would turn vacant lots now zoned for amusements into residential; and would allow some hotels, retail and indoor amusements in the central amusement area of the historic entertainment hub.

We'll have more soon, after the Council vote, which is...

Bloomberg’s Coney Plan Passes Hurdle

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:32:59 -0400

The Bloomberg administration is nearing the finish line in its attempt to push a planned revitalization of Coney Island through the City Council, as a key subcommittee and local Councilman Domenic Recchia voted in favor of the plan Tuesday.

Still, there are a few loose ends that could threaten its passage before the full Council next Wednesday, including deals with major landowner Joe Sitt and building employees’ union 32BJ, which wants wage guarantees.

Unions, ACORN Push Council for Coney Island Concessions as Clock Ticks

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:27:09 -0400

Seems like the Bloomberg administration has yet to win over unions and housing advocacy group ACORN on its Coney Island plan.

I was forwarded a letter on Friday night addressed to members of the City Council from a number of important unions and ACORN that urges the members to withhold support of the plan—a multibillion-dollar redevelopment of the historic entertainment hub—without changes to labor and housing issues.

“The window of opportunity for the City Council to...

Talk in No Short Supply as Coney Island Vote Potentially Days Away

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:45:17 -0400

The debate over the Bloomberg administration’s plans to remake Coney Island is dashing toward a close, as the City Council is just days away from an expected vote (a subcommittee is tentatively scheduled to vote Monday, though these things often change at the last minute). And, with potentially just days left, city officials are still juggling a panoply of issues and demands raised by the long roster of groups that have come knocking at...

Wilco Gets Hefty, Hammy and Happy on Coney Island

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:44:51 -0400

"Everybody okay? Everybody situated? Got your programs? No? I’m sorry! You guys really look good. I’d always wondered what that meant," Jeff Tweedy told swooning fans on Monday night, halfway through Wilco’s shiny Coney Island show. "Very, very attractive audience—you should feel good about yourselves!"

It’s not that Mr. Tweedy has only become more stable since ending one of alt-rock’s best-documented drug addictions. He's a better front man. At KeySpan Park, his songs started sweet...

The Coney Island Odyssey

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:04:07 -0400

...

The Education of Joe Sitt

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:56:29 -0400

The tone of a City Council hearing last week on Mayor Bloomberg’s major Coney Island redevelopment plans was music to Joe Sitt’s ears.

The red-carpeted Council chambers in City Hall quickly became an interrogation room as successive Council Members took their turns bellowing aggressive questions and assertions at a trio of Bloomberg economic development officials.

Why not rule out the...

To Boost Its Coney Island Plan, Bloomberg Administration Buses in Supporters for City Council Hearing

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:07:00 -0400

There’s a common tactic that accompanies most development fights: packing a public hearing.

Usually this is carried out by a variety of groups fighting or supporting a given project—advocates, unions, angry neighbors, wary businesses—who enlist (ideally) scores of people to testify at a hearing in favor of their position, filling a room with sign-holding supporters and making it seem like their argument has more support than the opposition's.

But for a City Council...

In Coney Island Fight, Recchia Backs Developer Joe Sitt Over Bloomberg

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:21:09 -0400

For years now, the Bloomberg administration has been pushing a plan to redevelop Coney Island, trying to ensure its approval in the City Council amid resistance from the amusement district’s main landowner, Joe Sitt. Now, as the Council approaches a vote on the plan in coming weeks, one major line of resistance is emerging: Domenic Recchia, the area’s councilman, is siding with Mr. Sitt on almost all of the developer's key points, threatening the...

Bloomberg's Coney Island Plan Heads to Council Amid Expensive Questions

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:25:52 -0400

The fate of the Bloomberg administration’s proposal to remake Coney Island is now in the hands of the City Council and area Councilman Domenic Recchia, who has been critical of key aspects of the plan.

The ambitious proposal, which was approved by the City Planning Commission on Wednesday, imagines hundreds of millions of dollars in city investment to ultimately revitalize the onetime thriving amusement hub, which has gradually degenerated into a mostly vacant skeleton of...

Michael Bloomberg’s Two Favorite Mega-Projects

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:28:52 -0400

In the universe of the city budget, cuts are everywhere.

Nowhere was this more apparent than the city’s capital budget, the decade-long plan that pays for new parks, schools, firehouses, infrastructure and economic development with $47 billion in city funds. The Bloomberg administration is proposing to shrink its capital spending by about $8 billion from an earlier version unveiled last fall, an act that, if approved by the City Council this month, will inspire a...

Parking Lot in the Way of Bloomberg's Plan for Coney

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:11:00 -0400

Add another obstacle to the Bloomberg administration’s plans to remake Coney Island: a parking lot. Despite many an overture to election officials in southern Brooklyn, the administration has been unable to get anyone in Albany to carry a bill “alienating,” or declassifying, as parkland a large parking lot for the KeySpan Park baseball stadium, a measure that is central to the city’s plans. And the clock is ticking: The legislative session wraps June 22. Albany legislators...

Traffic Jam on Coney: Parking Lot or Parkland? Fate Could Foil Mayor's Plans

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:45:50 -0400

Add another obstacle to the Bloomberg administration’s plans to remake Coney Island: a parking lot.

Despite many an overture to elected officials in southern Brooklyn, the administration has been unable to get anyone in Albany to carry a bill “alienating,” or declassifying, as parkland a large parking lot for the KeySpan Park baseball stadium, a measure that is central to the city’s plans. And the clock is ticking: The legislative session wraps June 22.

Albany legislators...

Another Capricious Season Begins at Coney Island

Mon, 25 May 2009 15:38:37 -0400

...

Embattled Ruby's Bar Gets Back to Business on Coney Island

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:30:20 -0400

Astroland is gone and fiesty seaside merchant Dianna Carlin's popular Lola Starr Souvenir Boutique has been banished from the boardwalk.

But historic and architecturally challenged Coney Island watering hole Ruby's Bar & Grill will open for the season on Easter Sunday, April 12, after operator Michael Sarrel and family successfully negotiated a new lease with landlord Joe Sitt's Thor Equities.

The full announcement from the Ruby's crew:

Ruby’s Opening Day is once again upon us for 2009...

City, Sitt $60 Million Apart Over Coney Island Land

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:29:00 -0400

The Bloomberg administration’s plans to redevelop Coney Island are being held up, in part, by less than $60...

City, Developer $60 M. Apart Over Coney Island Land

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:20:11 -0400

The Bloomberg administration’s plans to redevelop Coney Island are being held up, in part, by less than $60 million.

The city has been locked in an evolving battle with major Coney Island landowner Joe Sitt and his Thor Equities for two years now, and has been trying to purchase all of his land since late last year. The Bloomberg administration is trying to rezone Coney Island in an attempt to turn it into...

City Offers $105 Million for Sitt's Land; Sitt Consultants Attack Coney Plan

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:40:00 -0400

It’s now been over two years since the Bloomberg administration began its public battle with Coney Island landlord Joe Sitt, frequently raining criticism on his plans for the Brooklyn amusement hub at public forums and in the press. Mr. Sitt is the largest landowner in the central amusement district and has resisted the city’s plans to revamp the area, saying it would be economically unviable. The latest turn in the unending face off—the city is attempting...

Sitt Consultants Attack Coney Plan as City Offers $105 M. for Land

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:38:17 -0400

The latest turn in the unending face off—the city...

The Next Coney Battle: Hundreds of Millions for Infrastructure

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:18:00 -0500

Thus far, between the freaks, the hunger strikes, the attacks via the media between city officials and a Brooklyn developer, the protesters brought in by the busloads to show up to an environmental scoping hearing (many of whom didn’t know where they were going), and the opposition by a civic group, the Bloomberg administration’s attempt to breathe new life into Coney Island has been, to use a cliché, a rollercoaster ride. The plan has repeatedly...

Latest Coney Troubles: Unions, 'Hundreds of Millions' in Infrastructure

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:15:54 -0500

Thus far, between the freaks, the hunger strikes, the attacks via the media between city officials and a Brooklyn developer, the protestors brought in by the busloads to show up to an environmental scoping hearing (many of whom didn’t know where they were going), and the opposition by a civic group, the Bloomberg administration’s attempt to breathe new life into Coney Island has been, to use a cliché, a rollercoaster ride.

The plan has...

Mom and the Folks at Coney Island Forum

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:06:04 -0500

Get on the bus.

That’s the message Economic Development Corporation head Seth Pinsky had for attendees of a panel on Coney Island at the Municipal Art Society on Wednesday night.

“If you really want to do something to help Coney Island, the only viable option that’s on the table right now is to support this rezoning,” Mr. Pinksy told a crowded and skeptical room. “This is the option that...

Joe Sitt Happy To Get Going in Red Hook, Mum on Coney

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:41:00 -0500

Joe Sitt wants to talk about Red Hook these days; not Coney Island.

At least that’s the main point the largest Coney Island landholder impressed upon me Tuesday afternoon when I bumped into him after a Brooklyn Historical Society real estate luncheon.

“We’re excited,” he said about Coney, adding that there would be an announcement in coming weeks about his plans for the summer (a flea market, he noted when queried, is only...

Coney Rezoning Officially Launches Tuesday

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:31:04 -0500

It's official: The city will launch its ambitious rezoning of Coney Island on Tuesday. (More background here, in a post I wrote Friday.)

The city just sent out this statement from Mayor Bloomberg:

Last week in the State of the City speech, I discussed the importance of moving ahead with development plans that create the conditions for growth in places of opportunity like Coney Island. The start of the public process...

City Slated To Launch Coney Island Redo

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:01:24 -0500

The Bloomberg administration’s plans to remake Coney Island are slated to take a major step forward on Tuesday, as the city intends to launch its rezoning for the historic amusement site. Revitalizing the decaying entertainment destination has been a top priority for the mayor’s economic development team, which has well over $100 million budgeted for the project.

While the date is not yet final—a spokeswoman for the Department of City Planning said...

Coney's Newest Attraction: Nastiness

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:03:35 -0500

We told you last week about funky, fighting Coney Island boardwalk retailer Dianna Carlin getting evicted by landlord Joe Sitt's Thor Equities. And we told you about the rather accusatory literature (see above) circulating regarding Mr. Sitt and the Bloomberg administration's would-be development plans for the amusement district.

Now, the Daily News chimes in this morning with further details of how nasty, indeed, it's gotten at the end of the N line. To wit:

Lola...

Harsh. More Anti-Sitt Literature From Coney Diehards

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:09:14 -0500

Here’s a look at some of the latest creations from a boisterous group of Coney Island enthusiasts, newly energized as Coney mega-landlord Joe Sitt has begun not renewing leases. The group, the Coney Island Coalition, sent an email to us on Wednesday saying they were planning a rally today at the boardwalk where they will presumably sport their new signs in protest of Mr. Sitt and the Bloomberg administration.

Full look at the...

Joe Sitt Exiles Coney Island Queen Dianna Carlin

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:10:55 -0500

Thor Equities, the mall developer angling to transform Coney Island's ragtag carnival of independent shops into a spangled $2 billion resort by the sea, has exiled Coney Island's reigning misfit Dianna Carlin, declining to renew her clothing boutique's lease on the Coney Island boardwalk, reports The Brooklyn Paper:

“They have malicious plans for Coney Island and I’m a person who stood up to their plans — and that’s a threat to them,” she said....

Fate of Crumbling Coney Island Bar Unclear

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:25:50 -0500

Iconic Coney Island boardwalk hangout Ruby's Bar, whose tellingly crumbling condition caught The Observer's eye this past summer, has yet to receive a new lease for the coming 2009 season [Kinetic Carnival via Grub Street]:

As most likely assumed, the other boardwalk businesses under the same landlord, like Lola Staar's boutique, may also be waiting to hear from Thor Equities on any lease extensions....

Municipal Art Society Launches Coney Web Site

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:50:17 -0400

The Municipal Art Society has launched its Web site devoted to Coney Island, part of the civic group's initiative to bring in new ideas for designing a reimagined amusement zone. Check it out here, and feed them suggestions....

Burden To Municipal Art Society: Don’t Mess With City’s Coney Plans

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:39:15 -0400

On Friday, we wrote about how the Municipal Art Society is putting together a design forum to come up with ideas for the redevelopment of Coney Island, kicking off the initiative today.

But this weekend, a Department of City Planning spokeswoman sent over a statement from planning director Amanda Burden that effectively fired a shot over the Municipal Art Society's bow, saying that the city welcomes new ideas—but not any that would...

Municipal Art Society To Solve All Coney Problems With Charrette

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:25:03 -0400

In the works for years now, the city's planned redevelopment of Coney Island has never been short on input. A sampling of what we've seen in the last year: A self-proclaimed "bombshell" press conference by a dissatisfied state Senator, an environmental "scoping" hearing with a stream of freaks, musicians, a hunger striker and the Reverend Billy; an info session that attracted busloads of protesters, many of whom were apparently unfamiliar with the issue.

Now,...

City Pays $11 M. For Coney Site Once Sought by Thor

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:40:52 -0400

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...

Support for Re-Imagining the 'American Jordan'

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:15:34 -0400

Michael Immerso, author of Coney Island: The People's Playground, wrote in the Wall Street Journal this weekend a conditional endorsement of the Bloomberg administration's Coney Island plans:

New York's goal of making Coney a year-round tourist destination is worthy of support -- but not in a way that leaves insufficient space for seasonal attractions and amusements that have become synonymous with Coney Island. The city hasn't yet struck a proper balance. Under the current...

To Do: Coney Island Film Festival

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:35:25 -0400

With two straight days of rain ahead of us, we can't think of many things that would be better than spending the weekend watching movies. Films even (hey, it is fall). And lucky us, there happens to be this massive film festival going on. Actually, there are two! If you're interested in some cinematic fare that's perhaps a bit more under the radar, the 8th Annunal Coney Island Film Festival, which kicks off tonight,...

Be 'Very, Very Scared' of Coney Island Without Rezoning, City Warns

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:05:10 -0400

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...

Some Won't Weep for Astroland

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:57:16 -0400

"Good riddance! Throngs of confused people meandering knee-deep in trash blown from unattended-to garbage cans. Nice! Really, really nice! There are many other cleaner, safer, better beaches and boardwalk attractions so close in Jersey... Coney Island doesn't even have a shell store or decent restaurant associated with its beach area." ["Advantage Sitt! Astroland Closing for...

Astroland Co-Owner: 'We Are Out of Time'

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:26:37 -0400

Here's a statement from Astroland co-owner Carol Hill Albert on the Coney Island amusement park's impending closure for good this Sunday. It was sent to the Save Coney Island listserv.

I am making this statement today to set the record straight. I have not "given up on Coney Island" as Thor Equities has stated. I have given up on trying to get Thor to negotiate which I have attempted to...

Advantage Sitt! Astroland Closing for Good

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:53:35 -0400

Coney Island's Astroland will have its last day this Sunday. Then it's over for the iconic amusement park, according to reports out this afternoon. A deal couldn't be reached by 1 p.m. today between Astroland's operator and its landlord Joseph Sitt, who has big plans for the area (if the city doesn't get its way first).

Here's the Post's take. Here's an emailed statement from Lynn Kelly, president of the Bloomberg administration's Coney Island Development...

So Much For Coney's 'Summer of Hope'

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:05:00 -0400

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....

Save Coney Island: The Music Video

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:34:28 -0400

This Coney Island music video has been around for a few months now, but we only stumbled upon it today (via a Brooklyn Paper article). The tune was performed (i.e., delivered in public comment form) at the uncharacteristically not-boring planning meeting Tuesday evening on the city's proposed Coney Island rezoning. ...

At Coney, City Switches To Watercolors To Win Over the Masses

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:16:06 -0400

We thought we’d post a few renderings from the city’s slideshow at its rowdy Coney Island scoping meeting Tuesday evening.

All goes without saying that renderings are a crucial tool in the battle to win public support for development projects in the city. The last batch made by the city, now somewhat obsolete given that the plan has since been modified, emphasized rides and roller coasters, whereas this time the city...

Coney Reacts: RPA Likes Revised Plan; ACORN Wants More Affordability

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:45:00 -0400

Leading up to tonight’s scoping meeting of the Coney Island revamp, various advocacy groups and others are staking out positions on the city’s plan, a few of which have ended up in our inbox. The comments are on the latest iteration of the plan, which was altered after it met opposition from Councilman Domenic Recchia, who sided with landowners including major property owner Joseph Sitt.

The hearing, which starts at six in Coney ...

Will Skate For Change: Coney Island Roller Queen Drumming Up Cash For Rink

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:37:33 -0400

Coney Island merchant Dianna Carlin continues her quest to reopen her Lola Staar Dreamland Roller Rink in the abandoned Childs Restaurant building with the first of two fund-raisers tonight.

Ms. Carlin is trying to raise the necessary funds for an assembly permit to cover the whole 60,000-square-foot building -- the cost of which is considerable.

Tonight's benefit, a 1920s-themed soiree with 3-D projections of Coney Island's heyday, takes place at 8 at Peggy O'Neils at 1904...

The Mayor of Coney Island's Resignation Letter

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:39:32 -0400

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:

I write this open letter of resignation from the position you appointed me to as a Director of The Coney Island Development...

Landlord Joe Sitt Chips In on Ruby's Rehab

Fri, 30 May 2008 10:09:01 -0400

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.

Ruby's was shuttered last Saturday following the...

Coney Island Bar Ruby's Shuttered Again!

Wed, 28 May 2008 12:14:48 -0400

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...

Coney Island's Last Summer, Take Two!

Tue, 27 May 2008 18:38:04 -0400

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.

The old boardwalk bar was closing early, long before last call or even sunset, due...