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......

Photograph of Mark Simmons, Top Chef contestant and sous-chef at Public, and WD-50 chef and owner Wylie Dufresne The festive factor was running high at last night's Taste of the Lower East Side, the 8th Annual fundraiser for the Grand Street Settlement. Forty neighborhood eateries pitched in to benefit Grand Street's programs that assist low-income Lower East Side residents, and they showcased some of their best dishes for the crowd of well over 1,000......

Another over-the-top Coney Island development proposal is in the works. Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a plan today to build the nation's biggest urban amusement park there, including 4,500 residential units (20 percent are set-asides for low- and middle-income housing) and some retail establishments. The proposal basically spells doom for Thor Equities' $1.5 million Vegas-style entertainment complex that can only get built if the city provides zoning for it. Don't worry, the Cyclone isn't going anywhere.......