You'll recall that Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is pushing hard to build a big $64 million amphitheater in the nine acre Asser Levy Park, so that Lionel Richie and Neil Diamond can bring their smooth sounds to the people of Coney Island and beyond. You'll also recall that many of the locals despise Marty's plan, because they see the little park as their own quiet oasis. The battle over the proposal is now boiling over, but at least nobody's getting hyperbolic or anything. more ›

All Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz wants to do is build a nice little $64 million concert hall in Coney Island's Asser Levy Park, but the local critics won't stop trying to undermine him. Opponents say that besides gobbling up precious park land, it would be so close to nearby synagogues that concerts couldn't be scheduled on Friday nights and Saturdays, because city law bans amplified sound within 500 feet of a place of worship during religious services. Also, they think it looks weird. Opposition leader Ida Sanoff tells the Daily News, "It's going to be like a spaceship plunked down in the middle of a park across from people's bedrooms." And all this negativity is really starting to get to Marty, who says the criticism's "hurtful because I don't deserve it. I've entertained the people in that neighborhood since 1991. I've put a smile on their face for 31 years. Why would I want them to frown?" The amphitheater's architect promises the state-of-the-art sound design would focus the sound toward the audience, not the neighbors, but naysayers like Sanoff remain unconvinced: "We don't need this. We have benches and walkways now." Construction's expected to start in the fall anyway. more ›

Plans to build an 8,000 seat, $64 million outdoor amphitheater in Coney Island’s Asser Levy Park may be derailed because the venue would be too close to two synagogues. City law bans amplified sound within 500 feet of a place of worship during religious services, and that would seemingly prevent concerts from being scheduled on Friday nights or Saturdays. A growing number of community members are fighting the development—a pet project of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz—on the grounds that it would gobble up precious park land and give back nothing but cacophony. And now the leaders of the two nearby synagogues are joining the effort to stop construction, which is expected to begin in August and finish by summer of 2012. But Markowitz remains committed to what many are calling "The Chip" because of its potato chip-like shape. He tells the Daily News it's too early to talk about programming at the venue, which he hopes will become a stop on the summer concert tour cirquit to rival Jones Beach: "There's not a project anywhere in Brooklyn that doesn't meet with some folks in the community opposing it." more ›

Opposition to a proposed $64 million amphitheater in Asser Levy-Seaside Park in Coney Island is mounting, with a community group demanding a public review process. Despite the foundering economy, Borough President Marty Markowitz is still championing it, and a rendering of the design, seen here, was recently released by Grimshaw Architects. But Markowitz has failed to win over some disgruntled locals, who have formed a Save Seaside Park campaign and deemed the whole plan an "atrocity." One former Community Board member tells the Brooklyn Eagle, "What — $64 million for this? Why put a commercial venue in the midst of a residential community, bringing traffic jams? Our libraries and school programs are being cut. It will take away parkland and bring more noise. We don’t need this expensive plastic potato chip here!" Community Board 13 is expected weigh in on the project within the next two months. more ›

It seems the taxpayer-funded Keyspan park—where baseball games alternate with rock concerts—isn't good enough for borough president Marty Markowitz; he's still pushing for a new taxpayer-funded amphitheater to replace the existing one at Asser Levy Park, to the tune of $64 million. (When originally proposed two years ago, that number was $40 million.) Markowitz says the new 5,000 seat venue, which would replace the current bandshell, "would make our borough a natural stop on the summer concert circuit for entertainers." Gee, wouldn't that be something? According to the Post, Markowitz will fund the project with $54 million from his office's capital improvement funds and $10 million from the mayor's office, but Community Board 13 and the city's Arts Commission have yet to give him a green light. more ›

Get ready to groan: "I look forward to 'Phase Two' of the 'blinging up' of the Parachute Jump," said inveterate cornball Marty Markowitz during his recent State of the Borough speech. The 262-foot Coney Island landmark was retrofitted with a lighting system two years ago, but borough president Markowitz and others deemed the effect too subdued and “artsy.” Now the city is soliciting proposals from companies to create a flashier effect. more ›