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Last month the city announced that the space dedicated to amusements in the latest Coney Island rezoning plan would be cut from 15 acres to 9 acres. City officials explained that the downsizing was necessary to accommodate “local landowners” – the biggest of those is developer Joe Sitt, whose glitzy plans were previously derailed by the city for the express purpose of devoting larger space for the amusement park.
Now Sitt’s Thor Equities stands to benefit most from what the city calls a compromise to break a deadlock in the revitalization plans. The reduced amusement park space will mean more land devoted to hotels and high-end shopping, upsetting a vocal coalition of community groups.
Members, who include the Polar Bear Club and Coney Island USA, tell the Post that the new plan “almost abolishes the area's amusement industry in favor of 30-story hotels, retail space and condos, turning the seaside area into a Mall of America.” On May 22nd, opening day at Coney Island beach, the 4,000-strong group promises a massive rally and “freak show” to shoot down the plans.
Photo from a Save Coney Island contingent in last summer's Mermaid Parade courtesy Wally G.
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We'll call it "Looney Park".
*groan* These protesters are the same people responsible for what is going to happen.
Anyone notice how David Gratt of Coney Island USA has not been heard of since the city announced they were abandoning the 15 acre amusement park plan? Turns out this is all his fault. He viciously attacked Bloomberg on the Coney Island message board saying that the mayor ruined New York City and the two new stadiums were crap and even that the original plan to save 15 acres for amusements but allow condos on the other side of the street was crap. The mayor responded by letting Coney Island USA know that he would no longer be working with them and would from now on be taking Thor Equities side. Thor Equities has been saying all along that amusement parks do not make money and Coney needs condos and a mall to revitalize it. Last month the mayor was pro amusement. But after what Gratt published about him he is now siding with Sitt and bringing in mall stores.
Word is that Dick Zigun has fired Gratt from his position at the organization for ruining everything. Over on the Coney Island web site Indie Rob Leddy has taken over as acting moderator and for the past two weeks has been posting threads promoting the side show in the news forum. Had Gratt still been there then he would have kept those threads in the proper side show forum. It is fun watching that organization collapse. They went from preserving the amusement area and having a permanent home to having the amusement area torn down for mall stores and having their building taken away from them to be replaced by a hotel.
Frank Figretialle
Frank F. What are you smoking? That's an arts organization, not city planners.
I guess I must have smoked the same crack, because I heard the same thing.
Coney Island USA was given five million dollars by the mayor to buy a building somewhere in Coney Island to house their sideshow and museum. They bought the building next door to the skooter car ride with the loud disco music. This was the same building they had been renting for the past six years after they were kicked out of a building on the boardwalk.
But the latest compromise with Thor Inc. trades off nine acres of their property. In trade the city is taking away all the property along the main strip with eminent domain and giving it back to Thor. Both the owners of the skooter car ride and Coney Island USA have been given notice by the city which they plan to fight in court.
The real dirt.... The city wanted a 15 acre park where the amusement parks are right now so they could remove park designation from the old Steeplechase Park which so far only has a baseball stadium. Doomberg already made a back door deal with a developer to sell them the rest of the park. It is currently being used for a parking lot, an ice skating rink, and storage space. Thor Equities found out about this deal and took advantage of Doomberg's plan. They bought up all the property the city was trying to buy and refused to allow the city to turn it into a park. The city tried to force park designation anyway and was stopped by the state senate.
The new plan is Thor allows the city to designate 9 acres of their property as park. The other six acres will be taken from Thor owned property on the other side of Gravesend Bay. Thor will agree to build a public promenade around some property they want to turn into a box store. The promenade and the box store parking lot will get park land designation switching both that and the 9 acres along the boardwalk for the 15 acres in Steeplechase park. It is all a shell game so Doomberg can sell off another city park.
Why do you post under two different names? I follow the story in the papers and what you are writing is riddled with inaccuracies. Sounds like you have an axe to grind with Coney Island USA. You expect people to believe that the city gave them money for a building then wants to take it back because some guy who is part of the organization knocked Bloomberg? Mayor Mike must have an awful lot of free time to care about a message board and this guy you're talking about must wield so much power as an employee of an arts organization best known for a freakshow and mermaid parade.
Amazing what people will say on the internet. Smoke less, get out more.
I'm not aware that I had been fired, since I'm sitting at the same crappy desk in the same windowless office that I have been for the past four years.
I haven't posted on the CIUSA message board recently because when our season started my actual work took precedence.
But your assumptions are very creative and we appreciate that.
Att: bornbreadnewyorker
I have nothing to do with frank f. I was not the one who said that Gratt was fired. I only said that I read the same thing on other message boards in the past few months. My concern is that the mayor is selling off Steeplechase Park. He is also selling parts of Central Park, parts of Forest park, parts of Flushing Medows Park, and was just stopped by the court from selling off part of Union Square Park. he was also in league with the former governor to sell off Aqueduct Raceway and is already in the middle of selling Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Do you want to see your public parks walled off and turned into private neighborhoods for the rich? No more lawns, no more baseball fields, no more dog runs, no more playgrounds, no more beaches, no more lakes, no more bike paths, no more horseback rides? This is what your mayor is trying to do.
Att: Mod
Can you confirm that the person responding at 05/08/08 10:43am is really David Gratt and not an impostor?
capitalism doesn't account for nostalgia
Steeplechase Park? Are you living in this decade? That was already sold off when they put a useless baseball stadium for lousy A ball baseball. What other message boards are talking about David Gratt being fired? I don't believe you and do you really think anyone moderates this board. They look at the current posts, not these older ones. You'll never get an answer but being that this Gratt character posted on Coney Islands message board the same day he did here I'd say it's legit. You'd make a bad private eye, that's for sure.