Just what Coney Island needed, some Miami Beach flavor! After forcing out eight longstanding local establishments on the Boardwalk, international amusement giant Zamperla has enlisted the services of one Michele Merlo, a food and beverage guy who comes to us from Miami's Pelican Hotel. Goodbye Ruby's, hello Club Lexx! Bros, Coney Island is gonna be so ballin' next summer. more ›

After a marathon seven hour negotiating session yesterday, seven out of eight businesses on the Coney Island boardwalk that have been fighting eviction agreed to a "deal" late last night that would allow them to stay for one last summer. But after this season, they must slag off so that international amusement giant Zamperla can build a giant generic sports bar/restaurant complex operated by the French-based Sodexo, one of the world’s largest food and facilities management companies. So long Ruby's, and God Bless Generica! more ›

Ruby's Bar and Grill and seven other Coney Island businesses are fighting their evictions in court, but the Post reports that their lawyers are also quietly working to arrange a settlement whereby their clients would slag off in exchange for some hush money. "The tenants are holding the boardwalk hostage in order to get a big payout and then walk away," one city official tells the tabloid. Exactly—it's just like how in Die Hard, the sinister Bruce Willis held all those people hostage at Nakatomi Plaza, thus preventing the noble Alan Rickman from saving them. more ›

Ha, remember how last spring that poor guy fell through Ruby's floor into a filthy, rat-infested basement? If this photo is any indication, patrons at the quintessential Coney Island dive should also use caution when stepping out of the bar. Or, at least they would if the place was actually open; after ongoing negotiations with controversial landlord Joe Sitt, the owners of Ruby's still do not have a lease. more ›

According to an email and this post on the Coney Island message board, the annual post-Polar Bear swim party at Ruby's Bar on the boardwalk will proceed, despite escalating fears that the beloved dive would close. On Christmas Eve, a large number of businesses on the boardwalk were plastered with "For Lease" signs by Thor Equities, which owns much of the property on Coney Island and is locked in tough negotiations with the city over the make-up of a proposed upscale hotel and amusement project. more ›

It looks like would-be Coney Island developer Joe Sitt has gone all Henry F. Potter this Christmas, sending workers out last night to put up "For Lease" signs on boardwalk properties owned by his company, Thor Equities. A commenter on the Coneyisland.com message board snapped some photos last night and this morning, depicting the signs above such indispensible boardwalk mainstays as Nathan's and scruffy dive bar Ruby's Bar & Grill. more ›

Our favorite Coney Island Boardwalk joint, Ruby's Bar & Grill, might not survive to see another summer! Kinetic Carnival reports they have yet to receive a lease for the 2009 season, whereas last year they had already been given a renewal by August. The indispensable dive bar's demise was portended back in May, when the floor collapsed beneath a man using their bathroom, causing him to fall ten feet into the basement. The fact that he fell into a rat infestation didn't help the situation, and Ruby's was closed the following day by a health inspector. There are currently no negotiations with landlord Thor Equities, and it's unclear whether other Coney Island staples like Steve's Grill House and Cha Cha's will also go the way of Astroland. Some fear that this year's Polar Bear Day Party at Ruby's may end up being their last hurrah. more ›