The Coney Island amusement district will get a tasty new addition this summer when Park Slope's Zito's Sandwich Shoppe opens an outpost near the boardwalk. The well-regarded sandwich shop opened last August to serve Italian-style heroes to the stroller set and has been buzzing along ever since. With the area gradually transforming into a soulless corporate shopping mall, it comes as no surprise that a successful restaurant would want to get in on the action. Zito's will join the list of established Brooklyn restaurants—Grimaldi's and Tom's to start— trying to make a go of it in the landmark neighborhood.
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Results tagged “zamperla”
Zito's Sandwich Shoppe Expands To Coney Island
A Peek At The New Coney Island Tom's Restaurant
Last week, beloved Prospect Heights breakfast institution Tom's Restaurant announced plans to expand for the first time in their 75-year history, after signing a deal to open a second location on the Coney Island boardwalk. Now, more details are emerging about what the space will look like and who Tom's Zamperla-sanctioned neighbors will be.
Beloved Breakfast Joint Tom's Restaurant Expanding To Coney Island
Tom's Restaurant, a much-loved Prospect Heights breakfast (and lunch) joint that's been turning out omelets and cherry lime rickeys for the past 70 years, is moving on up to that great big kitchen in...Coney Island. Will the freaks line up for their eggs Florentine?
Reprieve: Ruby's Bar And Paul's Daughter Offered Long Term Leases!
There's a dramatic twist in the endless saga of the Coney Island boardwalk: two longstanding Mom & Pop enterprises are being offered long term leases by the same company that worked so hard to drive them out. Beloved boardwalk dive Ruby's Old Tyme Bar & Grill and classic snack shop Paul's Daughter were supposed to vacate by the end of the month. But at the eleventh hour, foreign amusement company Zamperla is offering them an eight year lease, NY1 reports. But what about the year-round upscale sports bar and cappuccino complex Coney Island so desperately needs?!
Last Call For Ruby's Bar And Other Longtime Coney Island Establishments
Just a reminder that the foreign company that now operates prime Coney Island real estate for the Bloomberg administration will soon be kicking out the last remaining Mom & Pop businesses on the boardwalk. Most beloved is Ruby's Old Tyme Bar & Grill, which has been in operation at this boardwalk location since the dark days of the early '80s. But the others that are sure to be missed include Paul’s Daughter, Cha Cha’s, Gyro Corner, Steve’s Grill House, and the Suh family’s Coney Island Souvenir Shop. In keeping with a one year lease extension agreed upon last year, they all must vacate by November 4th. Amusing the Zillion reports from the sad scene:
Welcome To Coney Island, NO PHOTOGRAPHY Allowed?
The Italian amusement park company that took over what was once Astroland doesn't want anyone taking photos inside the park, according a photographer who was recently hassled by security at the Scream Zone. The amusement park, it should be noted, is located on city-owned property that's being leased to the company, Zamperla. On the Coney Island message board, photographer Harold Kramer vents about his experience:
Time Running Out To Visit Coney Island Before "Heart Is Ripped Out"
On a weekend that in previous years would have drawn thousands of rock fans to Coney Island for the Siren Festival [RIP], the NY Times glances at the changes coming at the end of this summer, when seven longstanding businesses will be shut down and replaced with sports bars and upscale establishments where "you can have a nice cappuccino." There's no news here for those who've been following along with the sad Coney Island "development" saga, but reporter Liz Robbins's complacent tone is at least punctuated by some intense quotes, like this one from long time Coney Island resident Frankie Colorio:
New Coney Island Restaurant Operators To Bring "Miami Beach Expertise" To Boardwalk
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.
Scream Zone Closes To Masses After Opening For Politicians
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."
Video: Coney Island Scream Zone Opens As Old Businesses Are Shouted Down
International amusement giant Zamperla may be turning Coney Island into a generic shopping plaza you could find anywhere in Anytown, USA, but that's just fine by our old rich white male officials, who will no doubt feel more comfortable posing for photo ops at a shiny new sports bar than a place like Ruby's Bar and Grill. So it goes. Mayor Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and others journeyed to Coney Island today for the opening of The Scream Zone, which is adjacent to Luna Park and is accessed where Shoot the Freak used to be. You'll recall that Zamperla was fined by the Buildings Department for razing the popular attraction without a permit.
As Cyclone Eyes New Cars, Trump Eyes The Cyclone
Today's Post brings not one but two terrifying prospects for the Cyclone, the beloved 84-year-old roller coaster in Coney Island. First off, when temp operator Zamperla gives up the coaster later this year the city is hoping that its three rickety 24-seat trains will be replaced by something safer. And second? Not content with his fake-presidential bid birther nonsense and attempts to take over the Tavern on the Green and the Mets, Donald Trump also wants to run the Cyclone.
Video: New Coney Island Ride Ready for Cookie Tossing
While the international amusement company Zamperla has been working to push eight local business owners off the Coney Island boardwalk and replace them with a big sports bar restaurant complex, the company has also been busy building their new amusement park, The Scream Zone, which will compliment the new Luna Park this summer. Today they completed the first new ride. Called Zenobio, the ride stands more than 100 feet tall and sweeps riders through the air at 60 miles per hour. Here's video of the same ride in action elsewhere:
Coney Island 8 May Take Dead End Deal for One Last Summer
The eight businesses on the Coney Island boardwalk that have been fighting eviction may accept a deal that would allow them to stay for one last summer, but guarantee their eviction at the end of the season. The foreign-run amusement giant Zamerpla, which controls the lease to the NYC-owned property, has for months been locked in a legal battle with Ruby's Bar & Grill, Beer Island, Paul's Daughter, the Grill House, Cha Cha's, Gyro Corner, Shoot the Freak and Coney Island Souvenirs. But now Amusing the Zillion reports that the owners are being offered leases for the 2011 season, on the condition that they go quietly in November.
Zamperla Takes Over The Coney Island Cyclone
Now that Zamperla has successfully terrorized Coney Island institutions like Ruby's Bar & Grill and Shoot The Freak, it's sinking its talons into the Cyclone...temporarily. The family of Carol Albert has decided that after 37 years, the Cyclone is just too costly to run, and Zamperla says its been given control of the ride until the city can have a formal bidding process.
Councilman Supports Eviction of Coney Island Eight
Eight mom-and-pop businesses were expected to appear in housing court today to fight their eviction from the Coney Island Boardwalk, but we're told the court date was postponed for a second time, to February 16th. In the meantime, the "Coney Island Eight" have already lost the crucial support of Democratic Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr., who serves as chairman of the council’s powerful Finance Committee. Recchia tells the Post, "I understand the sentiment that these businesses have been here a long time, but they also made a lot of money paying cheap rent all these years. If they really cared, I know firsthand that they had plenty of chances to buy these properties and fix them up, but they never did."
City Fines Amusement Giant For Razing Shoot the Freak
There was considerable outrage last week when Zamperla, the multinational amusement company leasing prime Coney Island boardwalk property from the city, abruptly bulldozed Shoot the Freak, the ten-year-old attraction where customers step right up to fire paint ball pellets at a human target. Shoot the Freak and seven other boardwalk businesses are fighting Zamperla's eviction order in court, so it came as a surprise that the company would raze the attraction before any legal decision had been issued. Now it turns out that Zamerla didn't even bother getting a permit from the Department of Buildings to do the work.
Video: Yesterday's Psychotic Polar Bear Swim at Coney Island
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.
Shoot the Freak Owner Firing Back
The owner of the Shoot the Freak attraction on the Coney Island boardwalk says that despite the sudden bulldozing of his business this week, he's not going anywhere. Besides his already pending lawsuit against amusement giant Zamperla, owner Anthony Berlingieri will ask a judge next week to stop the company from turning the site into the entrance for its new "Scream Zone" amusement park. Berlingieri, who found all his equipment and props gone when he showed up at the site Wednesday, tells the Daily News, "Everything I worked the last ten years for...is gone. They've been dishonorable from day one...If you hang out with a bunch of thieves and someone robs you, you're not surprised."
Coney Island's Shoot the Freak Bulldozed, Boarded Up
Although the owners of eight local businesses are suing to stop their eviction from the Coney Island boardwalk, the amusement giant controlling their leases isn't waiting to give them the boot. The first to get the bum's rush is Shoot the Freak, an open-air attraction that's let customers fire paint ball pellets at the titular "freak" for the past ten years. Anthony Berlingieri, who operates the famous game, tells the Post, "I’m still in shock. Zamperla never contacted me before throwing out my equipment and basically shutting me out of business."
Ruby's, Other Coney Businesses May Relocate Off Boardwalk
A compromise is being floated that would relocate quintessential Coney Island dive Ruby's Bar and Grill away from the boardwalk to Surf Avenue. Ruby's and seven other boardwalk establishments are being evicted by amusement giant Zamerpla USA, which is leasing the property from the city and operating Luna Park (on the site formerly occupied by Astroland). A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg has told the Post that the city is considering an idea put forth by Coney Island activist Dick Zigun that would evict the long-standing furniture sellers on Surf Avenue to make way for some of the evicted businesses.
Ruby's Opening One Last Time for Beautiful Saturday
Last Saturday at Ruby's Bar and Grill, there was a boozy protest against amusement giant Zamperla USA's move to evict eight longstanding businesses around the Coney Island boardwalk. It was supposed to be the last hurrah for the beloved dive, but this Saturday there will be another last hurrah. Ruby's Facebook page says: "Due to overwhelming requests, from our loving and loyal customers, Ruby's plans on opening up for the last time." And if Ruby's lawyer is right, this might not be the last time either. "We're about to fight the biggest battle ever," attorney Marc Aronson tells the Daily News.
Ruby's, Others Definitely Suing to Stop Boardwalk Eviction
As expected, eight of the nine family-owned Coney Island bars, eateries, and attractions which are facing sudden eviction will be fighting their fate in court. (The only one not joining the lawsuit is Pio Pio Riko Peruvian food stand, which opened last year.) Anthony Berlingieri, owner of Shoot the Freak and Beer Island, tells The Post he and the other businesses have hired a lawyer and will sue Zamperla, the company leasing the property from the city. He says the businesses spent thousands of dollars each coming up with business plans at Zamperla’s request to justify lease renewals "even though Zamperla already decided to kick them out."
Mourning Coney Island Institution, Ruby's Bar, 1934-2010
Yesterday, hundreds of customers and staff protested and grieved over the impending demise of Coney Island mainstay, Ruby's Bar & Grill. The family of Rubin Jacobs, who bought the boardwalk location near Stillwell Avenue in 1975, pumped $40,000 into the business last year in hopes of convincing amusement giant Zamperla to let it stay. But it didn't matter: Last week, Zamperla presented Ruby's (as well as eight other longtime boardwalk residents, including Shoot the Freak, Cha Cha's, and Paul's Daughter) with a letter telling them that they'd been evicted and had until November 15th to "surrender the premises."
Ruby's Owner Not Too Optimistic, Sitting Shiva
Grub Street has a great Q&A with Michael Sarrel, owner of Ruby's Bar and Grill, the beloved old dive that's being forced out of the Coney Island boardwalk after 76 years in operation. Sarrel says, "We are 75 percent resolved that it’s over; however, we’re 25 percent resolved that it’s not."
Ruby's To Reopen Saturday for Rally and Protest
Over the weekend, Ruby's Bar and Grill closed for the season. But on Monday, the owners learned that after more than 70 years on the Coney Island boardwalk, their lease would not be renewed, along with eight other businesses that don't conform to Zamperla/CAI's vague vision of a generic, year-round restaurant sports bar megacomplex. Because who can resist Coney Island in February?! There's been a bitter outcry over the evictions, and on Saturday starting at 12:30 p.m. Ruby's will reopen for one day for a protest to "tell Zamperla, Markowitz, Recchia, Bloomberg and CIDC we won't go quietly." Meanwhile, the blog Amusing the Zillion thinks it's found hope.
Six Saddest Reactions to the Coney Island Evictions
Yesterday we reported that many of the longtime establishments on the Coney Island boardwalk are being abruptly evicted to make way for "a sit-down restaurant with an ocean view, open 365 days a year, able to serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and also a very large sports bar." The casualties include the 70-year-old dive bar par excellence Ruby's Bar and Grill, The Grill House, Shoot the Freak, Beer Island, and longstanding fast food fast-food stand Paul’s Daughter. Ah, but ain't that Generica! Today the dailies report on the proprietors' reactions to the bad news; here are the six most heartbreaking quotes:
Zamperla Threatening Coney Island Boardwalk Businesses
[UPDATE BELOW] Considering all the stuff that could have happened with Coney Island, we actually liked the new Luna Park. It's still reasonably priced, isn't surrounded by Vegas-like hotels and concessions, and allows for free beach access. But all that changed with news of operating company Zamperla's alleged mission to shut down boardwalk mainstays like Ruby's and Cha Cha's. Joe Sitt ain't got nothin' on Zamperla.
Zamperla's Coney Island Park Will Be Named "Luna Park"
The Italian amusement company reportedly tapped to turn the city's controversial Coney Island redevelopment plan into a reality will name its plot "Luna Park" after the legendary Coney Island amusement park. "The park will be called, Luna Park, like the first, the only, the inimitable one, the one created by Frederic Thompson and Elmer 'Skip' Dundy," Alberto Zamperla — President and CEO of Zamperla — apparently told the Italian newspaper Il Giornale di Vicenza. If that's the case, Zamperla will have some pretty big shoes to fill.
City Chooses New Amusement Operator For Coney Island
The city has selected a new amusement park company to operate rides in Coney Island. Following its purchase of a large chunk of Coney Island land, the city has tapped Zamperla USA to kick off its controversial plan to revitalize the neighborhood by bringing new amusements to the area between KeySpan Park and the former Astroland amusement park.
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