"Mayor Bloomberg with Kids" (Courtesy NYCEDC's Flickr)

After opening yesterday for a photo-op with Mayor Bloomberg and others, the new Scream Zone in Coney Island is closed. Although the international amusement giant Zamperla/CAI had announced that the new park—which features the first "major" new roller coasters to debut in NYC since the Cyclone—would open to the public today at noon, NewYorkology finds that the park isn't quite ready for its closeup. A spokesman says, "CAI is putting the finishing touches on Scream Zone and hopes to open to the public this weekend."

Yesterday we noted that it's the last summer for Ruby's and other longtime Mom and Pop boardwalk institutions, because Zamperla plans to replace them with a big sports bar and restaurant managed by another big foreign company, Sodexo, which has been fined by New York State for overcharging New York students and denying black employees promotions. Well, the NYC Environmental Development Corporation objected to our lack of enthusiasm for the direction Coney Island is headed, and a spokesperson writes:

Did you go to Coney yesterday? I don’t think you did, because your post is full of inaccuracies. If you had gone, maybe you could have talked to some of the 50,000 New Yorkers who live in the neighborhood. Have you ever asked any of them how they feel about the City’s investment in Coney Island? Have you talked to the 1,200 people who attended our job fairs last month to work at the new parks? The unemployment rate in Coney Island has historically been about twice the City average. Did Ruby’s ever hold a job fair? Do you think the neighborhood kids would rather have their vacant lot back, instead of the new park? How did you see Nadler’s face yesterday, since he wasn’t there?

We did not go to Coney yesterday, because carefully stage managed photo-ops with politicians and prop local children don't usually give one a clear impression of reality. (Besides, that chicken Bloomberg didn't even go on any of the rides.) But we have spoken with New Yorkers on Coney Island, and the ones we talked with are outraged that their tax dollars went to buying this property and turning it over to a foreign company which is driving out some of the locally-owned businesses that brought Coney Island back from the brink in the '80s. Here's our video:

Last Call for Ruby's at the New Year's Day Coney Island Polar Bear Swim? from Gregory Stefano on Vimeo.

Also, let's not forget that before The Scream Zone was a vacant lot, it was used for amusements. And they were cheaper.