Gothamist: Rides Go Up for Sale as Astroland Closes Shop Today

Pablo57

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:40:49 -0500

"Anyone who can afford a luxury condo probably won't be relying on the Q train. Your basic SUV driven through automatic gates onto private grounds into an underground garage sounds more like it." spirito76 I live in Coney Island. What you are describing is Oceana Condos at Brighton Beach, just a ten minute ride up Brighton Beach Ave from Coney Island. It is a real possibility this will happen in Coney. There is a lot of Russian money involved here.

Jerk Store

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:27:07 -0500

"They do it all the time successfully. Many luxury hi rises are right smack next to NYC housing projects in Manhattan. They still get tenants." Not to be overly Manhattan-centric, but the key word there is really IN MANHATTAN. Scarcity of housing combined with proximity to work means people are willing to make compromises for Manhattan housing -- look at all the people paying 2k/month for what amounts to a closet. Coney Island, on the other hand, is WAY out there, far away from the places most people in the city (especially people who are in the market for luxury condos) work and play. It's inconvenient. I get the point that people have bought luxury condos in non-hot neighborhoods before, but the buyers market is contracting and DUMBO, Ft. Greene, Bushwick, etc. are still substantially more convenient/central locations than CI is. I see any attempt to build luxury high rises in Coney ending in utter failure.

sharpshoota

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:06:17 -0500

They do it all the time successfully. Many luxury hi rises are right smack next to NYC housing projects in Manhattan. They still get tenants.

Bouncing Soul

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:24:01 -0500

I just hope some millionaire with fond memories of Coney Island comes along and purchases all the rides and places them somewhere accessible to the public as a nice 'fuck you scumbag' to Thor Equities.

Spiritof76

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:26:35 -0500

I'm sure they can find some way to gate the community and keep the rabble out. Anyone who can afford a luxury condo probably won't be relying on the Q train. Your basic SUV driven through automatic gates onto private grounds into an underground garage sounds more like it. Aren't there projects in Fort Greene, too? Yet people pay a lot for houses there and multimillion dollar condos in nearby DUMBO are hot.

peanut100

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:58:55 -0500

something i can't seem to understand in the "let's build condos in coney" theory by thor et all is how the hell are they going to deal with the surrounding areas? do they plan on knocking down all the pj's as well? coney is not exactly brooklyn heights!! who in their right mind would pay 7 figures for a condo there?? it's sad that a century of history is down the tubes as of today. this is the beginning of the end for the "real" coney island, warts and all. something that i find very special about coney is that it has to be one of the most (if not the most) diverse places in brooklyn and has been for many many years. take a look around and you will see everyone from latinos, hassidics, black/white ppl, russians, and even hipsters (ha) over the last few years etc all enjoying a very inimitable brooklyn experience. rip coney !!

Spiritof76

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:47:46 -0500

That's exactly the point. Thor doesn't want the "old school" Coney visitors who go for amusements. They want well-to-do residents who would pay seven figures for new beachfront condos, which is why they don't want places like Astroland around.

blablanyc

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:18:49 -0500

I don't think the people that go to Coney are the luxury condo and mall types. Thor is going to fail. It's a shame it had to end like this.

Toby von Meistersinger

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:29:12 -0500

Most of these big building projects that screw people (See: Ratner) tend to be smokescreens for luxury condos. Now part of the thing with this is that Albert probably took the money from Thor because she thought she would get screwed when Thor would improperly get the city to eminent domain the land away from them. The whole Thor plan is destined for failure, but the politicians love developers and their money.

sharpshoota

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:11:34 -0500

I predict the only thing they end up building there is more luxury condos.

zpk

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:35:28 -0500

Yeah -- we all know what Coney Island really needs is a Gap, a Starbucks, and a luxury condo.

Billiamsburg

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:33:54 -0500

Seriously though, WHO is going to take the trip out to coney island to visit a strip mall? Does the developer really think those crowds will be around to visit his Applebees?