As announced yesterday, the Astrotower at Coney Island is being partially dismantled after concerns over swaying. Demolition work starting in the early morning (around 2 a.m.) and NYC Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said, "We’ve come to the conclusion that the most expedient way and the fastest way to get the park up and running and be safe for all New Yorkers is to remove part of the tower immediately."
At 275 feet, the Astrotower has been a part of Coney Island for decades. However, a neighbor told NBC New York, "I think it's a good plan, for safety. It could destroy lives, and we don't need that." But another told WCBS 2, "This is historic, the Astrotower starting to come down. You grow up with the Astrotower…so it’s really something seeing it come down. I just hope they do something to maybe preserve it somehow, maybe rebuild it in another part of the park."
Part of Coney Island is closed—including The Cyclone—due to demolition. One business owner was furious, "I lost hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment trying to recover from Hurricane Sandy, and now this. They waited all year. Why’d they wait all year to decide that this was unsafe?"
