Coney Island

[NYC4Life]

New York Post

CITY RIDES BIZMAN OVER CONEY CLOSURE



By RICH CALDER

Last updated: 8:25 am
September 19, 2008
Posted: 4:31 am
September 19, 2008

A controversial developer is now officially Coney Island's public enemy No. 1 -- at least as far as the Bloomberg administration is concerned.

In the strongest public rebuke of Joe Sitt by a city official, Lynn Kelly, the president of the Coney Island Development Corp., accused the developer of buying up prime boardwalk land and clearing out rides to force the mayor's hand -- so he could build luxury condos and retail.

Kelly said Sitt's attempts to replace the rides he's cleared out the past three summers with temporary amusements have been a huge flop -- including a much-maligned "inflatable" water slide he set up on Stillwell Avenue last summer -- and she even suggested he is privately happy over the failure.

"What's his point? Unless it's [a deceptive attempt] to show that amusements don't work and amusement zoning doesn't work," Kelly told The Post.

Kelly's remarks came a day after she revealed during a Municipal Art Society panel discussion on Coney Island how city officials recently tried to cut an 11th-hour deal to save fabled Astroland from closing but were shot down by Sitt.

The park closed its doors for good last week after 46 years when longtime operator Carol Albert couldn't reach a new lease deal with Sitt, who is Astroland's landlord.

Kelly said the city asked Sitt's Thor Equities firm to give Albert a one-year lease extension. This, she said, would allow the park to remain open next summer and provide sufficient time get the necessary approvals to move Astroland's rides to a section of the boardwalk that the city owns.

"We were told Thor had no interest in our offer or extending the lease," she said.

Albert said Thor Equities has refused to negotiate.

A Sitt spokesman did not return messages seeking comment.

But Sitt through a spokesman has previously tried to blame Albert for Astroland's closing by saying he is "extremely disappointed that" Albert "has decided to give up on the future of Coney Island when her current lease isn't even up" until the end of January.

Albert said she needs the extra months to sell off her rides before the lease expires or face hefty penalties from Sitt for failing to vacate the land on time.

Albert said she has received offers but admits failing to pull the trigger to sell the rides because she "had been holding out for the slimmest of hope" that Sitt would come around.

She is now ready to give up.

"It would be a miracle at this point now," said Albert, adding she wants to relocate all her rides to one location rather than piece-meal.

The offers include parks in other states and from "Arab princes" seeking to move Astroland's rides to the tourist destination of Dubai.

[NYC4Life]

Updated On 10/15/08 at 02:51PM

City acquires first parcel in Coney Island


Wonder Wheel

The city's Economic Development Corp. announced today it has bought one acre of land in the Coney Island amusement core for $11 million from Ward Realty Corp. The Ward family is the oldest landowner in Coney Island. This is the first deal of what the city expects to be a series of land acquisitions in coming months in its plan to create a 12-acre, year-round entertainment district in Coney Island. The current tenant, Wonder Wheel Park (which has the landmarked Wonder Wheel), maintains a lease to operate on the property through 2020, and the property falls within the nine-acre planned parkland in the district. With this acquisition, the city now owns four acres in the Coney Island footprint. TRD

[brianac]

City Pays $11 M. For Coney Site Once Sought by Thor

by Eliot Brown
October 15, 2008


New York City's newest piece of Coney Island.

The Bloomberg administration announced today it has agreed to pay $11 million for a piece of Coney Island boardwalk property, putting into city hands the land under much of Wonder Wheel park owned for decades by the Ward family.

Complete article HERE

© 2008 Observer Media Group

[NYC4Life]

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

October 16, 2008

Work on Contaminated Coney Site Set for Completion in ’09


Former Gas Manufacturing, Storage Facility Took Years To Clean Up


CONEY ISLAND – Work on the 17-acre former Brooklyn Borough Gas Works, a site with buried industrial wastes and a long history as a manufactured gas plant and gas storage facility, is scheduled to be finished next year after many years of cooperation between government agencies, NationalGrid and its predecessor utilities, and community residents.

The Brooklyn Borough Gas Works, near the highly polluted Coney Island Creek operated between about 1918 through the mid-1950s, when natural gas pipelines were brought into the area and the need to manufacture gas ended. Brooklyn Borough Gas, a local company in southern Brooklyn known for its pioneering employment of female executives, was bought by Brooklyn Union Gas, a predecessor to National Grid, in 1959.

At that time, Brooklyn Union began the demolition of the remaining structures on the site, which included both manufacturing operations and gas-storage tanks. In the early 1980s, with passage of Federal “Superfund” legislation, former gas-manufacturing sites were examined to determine their priority for environmental remediation, but the Brooklyn Borough Gas site was not considered dangerous enough for the federal government to pursue.

Beginning in 1984, Brooklyn Union Gas began commissioning various studies of environmental media at the site (soil, water, seepage, etc.) to determine the level of environmental risk and whether remedial action was required.

In 1995, Brooklyn Union entered into an Order on Consent with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to undertake a remedial investigation of the site. The investigation was completed in 1997. The first major Interim Remedial Measure was the removal of approximately 250 tons of soil containing non-hazardous levels of lead and nearly 1,600 tons of soil containing hazardous concentrations of lead.
Brooklyn Union, which had become KeySpan, continued to work with the state to develop plans to clean up the site. The Remedial Plans included excavation and removal of the top three feet of contaminated sediments along the creek; removal of toxic materials along the banks of the creek; creation of a 50-foot-wide buffer between the creek and the gas-plant site; excavating soil from areas known to contain coal tar in an upland area of the site; and more.

Nearly all of these activities have been completed, according to National Grid. Construction of an on-site treatment plant to treat the liquids collected from the recovery trench, prior to discharge to Coney Island Creek, will be completed early in 2009.
“At the time this project began, a corporate goal was also communicated to our neighbors – to remediate this site to a point where it could be returned to valuable use in the community,” according to a National Grid spokesperson. “While no decisions about eventual re-use have been made, National Grid continues to discuss re-use issues with the Public Service Commission, Community Board 13, the Borough President’s office and the City of New York. As is our policy, we will keep the community informed as these discussions move forward.”


© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008

[NYC4Life]

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Top Designers To Develop Vision for Coney Island
by Linda Collins



The Municipal Art Society (MAS) has invited a team of world-class architects, amusement designers and economists to come up with a new vision for Coney Island.

The MAS will launch an initiative to develop the new ideas at a press conference at noon on today, Monday, Oct. 27, at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Titled “Imagine Coney,” the new initiative will feature a global web-based call for ideas and a charrette (an intense design workshop), featuring international amusement and design experts from Tivoli Gardens in Denmark, Broadway theaters in Manhattan and former Disney executives.

The MAS hopes that by leveraging global ideas and creativity it can help identify the novel uses that will spark new life in Coney Island and build on the strides Mayor Bloomberg has made toward a revitalized Coney Island.

The charrette team will draw from ideas submitted during public workshops and from the web-based call for ideas that will be open to everyone.

Participants in the press conference will include Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and representatives from the Coney Island Development Corporation, the Department of City Planning, Coney Island USA, the Astella Development Corporation, the New York Aquarium, Creative Time, and other local stakeholders.
The team will return to Borough Hall on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 13 and 14, for the charrette, and the results will be presented to the public the following Monday, Nov. 17.


© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008

[Shaun_nyc]

gotta love the mermaid parade













"shoot the freak" LOL!

[NYC4Life]

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Worldwide Call Begins For Ideas To Revitalize Coney Amusement Area
by Dennis Holt (Holt@brooklyneagle.net), published online 10-27-2008

Planners from Denmark, Spain, France Come to Borough Hall
By Dennis Holt

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

A new planning effort for Coney Island, the initiative of the Municipal Art Society, began Monday morning at Borough Hall. It is not an effort to compete with the city plan for the creation of a new Coney Island, but to focus on the nature of the entertainment section.

The entertainment part has become an emotional element of a Coney Island plan, the city having reduced its size to nine acres from an original concept of 18 acres.

The new planning effort can be considered a brainstorming activity, with the morning Monday devoted to comments and brief presentations by 15 different people or groups. There will be two additional meetings, called charrettes on November 13 and 14, with a final presentation on November 17.

Monday afternoon a tour was conducted for all participants to key features on Coney Island — the Aquarium, Astroland, Keyspan Park, the Childs Building, among them.

This is not planned as merely “another part” in the Coney Island process, of which to date there have been many parts. The charrette team is composed of personnel from Paris, Copenhagen, Barcelona, the Disney organization, and elsewhere representing a variety of skills and experience in designing and creating entertainment centers.

In addition to the meetings here in Brooklyn, the Art Society will also create a global web-based call for ideas and concepts for the entertainment area.

Kent Barwick, longtime president of the Municipal Art Society who is stepping down from that position, proposed “That by leveraging global ideas and creativity, we can help identify the novel uses that will spark new life in Coney Island and build on the strides Mayor Bloomberg has made toward a revitalized Coney Island.”

The Coney Island process has some uncertainty attached to it. Joesph Sitt, the principal of Thor Equities, owns a major part of the planned entertainment area and has submitted a plan of his own for both the entertainment part and commercial and residential development.

The city countered with its own plan, which, although it has to deal with Sitt’s property ownership, is now the only real plan on the table.

The long and tedious study of all the zoning implications needed to create a revised Coney Island is reaching a significant turning point. The certification process for the new zoning plan is expected to be completed sometime in January and the ULURP (uniform land use review process) will begin then. Details of this plan will very much drive the rest of the planning process, as will the resolution of property ownership.



© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008

[brianac]

By the Beautiful Sea


From its earliest days, artists of all stripes have been attracted to the Coney Island amusement park, captivated by the crowds, the gaudiness and the pervasive sense of gentle outlaw fun.
Photo: Hazel Hankin


Photographers continue to be drawn there, even as its world-class attractions slowly give way to an undeniable seediness.
Photo: Hazel Hankin


Arminda Montalvo is a bathroom attendant at Astroland. This is one of 36 photographs, along with 32 pieces of fine art in various mediums, which are on view through Dec. 14 at the Puffin Room, a gallery on Broome Street in SoHo. The exhibition bears the poetic title: "Coney Island Maybe."
Photo: Robert & Robbie Bailey


Susan Arrengo, an Astroland worker, on the Tilt-A-Whirl.
Photo: Robert & Robbie Bailey


The pictures serve as a reminder that Coney Island continues to exert a powerful hold on the public imagination.
Photo: Charles Denson


At Coney Island's Stillwell Avenue subway station.
Photo: Hazel Hankin


It's easy to imagine that even a century from now, photographers or their 22nd-century equivalents will be peering through their viewfinders at Coney Island, gazing at the sights and saying, "Smile!"
Photo: Charles Denson

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/200...ide_index.html

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[brianac]

The City Visible

Wish You Were Here

Hazel Hankin
A food stand in Coney Island, photographed in 2007. More Photos >

Published: November 7, 2008

ALMOST from the moment the first roller coaster at Coney Island began running in 1884, visual artists of all stripes have been attracted to the amusement park, captivated by the crowds, the gaudiness and the pervasive sense of gentle outlaw fun.

Photographs of beachfronts blanketed with sunbathers are among the most memorable images of the emerging 20th-century metropolis, as are picture postcards from that period, some of them flecked with dustings of glitter, the better to evoke the district’s giddy, quicksilver personality.

In the 21st century, as the area’s future provokes intense and sometimes bitter debate, as that future gyrates as energetically as the park’s signature Wonder Wheel, visual artists and especially photographers continue to be drawn to the place, even as its world-class attractions slowly give way to an undeniable seediness.

Some 36 photographs, along with 32 pieces of fine art in various media, are on view through Dec. 14 at the Puffin Room, a gallery on Broome Street in SoHo, as part of an exhibition bearing the poetic title “Coney Island Maybe.”

These pictures, most of them taken in the past year or so, serve as a reminder that Coney Island continues to exert a powerful hold on the public imagination. It’s easy to imagine that even a century from now, photographers or their 22nd-century equivalents will be peering through their viewfinders, gazing at the sights and saying, “Smile!” — in the hope of capturing the soul of a place that seems never to go out of style.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/ny...ty/09cone.html

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[ZippyTheChimp]

Coney Island development posts go here.

[NYC4Life]

Curbed.com

The Death of Astroland: Iconic Rocket Could Be Sold for Scrap

Thursday, December 11, 2008, by Robert



Anyone who's been to Coney Island and doesn't know the Astroland Rocket hasn't really been to Coney Island. Back in the 60s, when Astroland was a "futuristic" amusement park, it was a ride. Then it ended up as a decoration atop those stands that sell really bad food. In any case, as Astroland is slowly being taken apart and put in shipping containers, it's in danger of being sold as scrap metal. Here's an email from the Save Coney Island Group that hit inboxes last night:

Help us Save The Astroland Rocket!! We have to find a new location for the Astroland Rocket soon or it will be sold for scrap metal!! Astroland will pay to relocate the rocket if we find a space for it!! It has to be somewhere secure, where people can't vandalize it. Any ideas??

Uh, maybe we were drinking heavily and imagined it, but wasn't the city supposed to be negotiating with developer Joe Sitt and working on saving Astroland for another year? Because the discussions seem to be going so, so well.



[Photo courtesy of Mr. Jonesy/Coney Island Message Board]

[Taz]

What's happened to Astroland is a damn shame. Joe Sitt and his Thor Equities, nothing but a bunch of douchebags.

Astroland has been pretty much my back yard for as long as I can remember, and to see it being demolished annoys me. Coney Island isn't Coney Island without Astroland...

even Denny's Ice Cream is gone

[Gunslinger]

Hi Guys
Coming to NYC in April - looking to head out to Coney Island - maybe ride the Wonder Wheel etc

Is there anything left worth seeing

Looking on the website
http://www.astroland.com/

Says Astroland is closed - however also says rides are open??

Huh???

Any ideas guys?

Thanks

[ZippyTheChimp]

The Astroland site is closed, but the Wonder Wheel (within the site) will be open. The Cyclone is across the street.

[brianac]

Fire Shuts Totonno’s, Legendary Coney Island Pizzeria

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
Eisuke Wakabayashi, a tourist from Japan, at Totonno’s pizzeria on Sunday, the day after a fire.

By MICHAEL WILSON
Published: March 15, 2009


The same scene of heartbreak played out over and over on Sunday on a ragtag patch of Neptune Avenue in Coney Island, where the word “scrappy” may be better suited to describe the metal in the auto shops than any sort of community spirit.

Since 1924, Totonno’s pizzeria has been a beacon on the block, remarkable for its longevity, for the deliciousness of its food and, maybe most of all, for its ability to embody a host of Brooklyn-fuhgeddaboudit-pizza clichés — Oh! The sauce! The family atmosphere! The line out the door! — without collapsing under them. Totonno’s had it all, including a no-nonsense owner, Louise Ciminieri, known as Cookie to her friends, as happy to put you in your place as she was to put you in a seat.

Until Sunday, the day after a fire wrecked the place, closing it indefinitely.

Firefighters were called at 8:44 a.m. on Saturday, and had the blaze out by 10:35. Three firefighters suffered minor injuries.

But is grief a minor injury? Drivers — some with parents sitting expectantly in the back seat — slowed and stared incredulously at the metal gates lowered in front of Totonno’s before throwing up their hands.

“I’ve been meaning to come here,” said a sullen Sergio Crespo, 32, who lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and had been trying to introduce his parents — and himself — to the fabled wonders of Totonno’s.

He tried to keep the mood cheery: “We can always go to Nathan’s.”

Sal Squadrito, 60, of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, learned of the fire on Saturday from his daughter, and drove past on Sunday to see for himself.

“I figured I’ve got to take a look,” he said. “We’ve been coming here for years.”

Asked what he loved about Totonno’s, he gave the litany as familiar as a prayer: “The atmosphere, the ingredients — natural, good ingredients.” His favorite: a white pie with extra cheese and garlic.

The news was across the city, with telephones ringing as if there had been a death in the family. Helene Eisenberg, 70, and her husband, Don, also got the news from their daughter.

“This was our place,” said Mrs. Eisenberg, a lifetime resident of Brighton Beach.

Ms. Ciminieri, the owner, did not visit her restaurant Sunday. She’d seen enough on Saturday. But in a telephone interview, she sent a message to any people who feared they’d eaten their last Totonno’s pie: “Thumbs up! We’re going to rebuild.”

Of the inside, she said: “It’s pretty bad. It’s a lot of damage. I have to redo the oven, because the water got into the bricks. We’re going to fix that, rebrick it.”

But, she said, this has been done many times before, to repair cracks. “I promise you, it’ll be the same exact pizza,” she said.

The cause of the fire remained a mystery to her, as well as to the Fire Department. She said the coals from the fire that heated the oven were put away in a firebox at the end of the night Friday.

“For 85 years we’re doing the same thing, dropping the coals into the firebox every night,” said Ms. Ciminieri, who promised to kiss this reporter if he did not reveal her age. “Why would this happen now? I don’t know.”

The restaurant is an occasional stop on the Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour, led by Tony Muia, who spoke with reverence of the place on Sunday. “It really is part of the hierarchy of pizzerias here,” he said.

“Lombardi’s — Gennaro Lombardi opened that in 1905,” Mr. Muia added, as if to begin a dissertation, and then explained: There is a picture of Mr. Lombardi posing with his pizza maker, Anthony Pero, who was known as Totonno. Mr. Pero left the mother ship on Spring Street in Little Italy in 1924, shortly after the subway started running out to the hinterlands of Coney Island, and opened his own place there.

Eighty-five years later, Lombardi’s is reserved almost exclusively for tourists, with loudspeakers and hostesses using radio headsets. Not so Totonno’s, which is still open only five days a week and still closes early if ingredients run out.

“Their pizza is a classic Neapolitan brick-oven-style pizza,” Mr. Muia said. “The crust is a nice solid crust for a Neapolitan pie. It’s always evenly cooked around, a nice sort of well-doneness. The sauce is a sweet tomato sauce, and the fresh mozzarell’ — it’s just incredible.”

He said he once took a bunch of Pizza Hut franchise owners on a tour that ended at Totonno’s, and watched them as they sat in rapt attention and listened to Ms. Ciminieri tell stories.

“It was almost like they were little kids,” he said. “I’m sure Cookie is a tough cookie, and she’ll recover from this.”

Colin Moynihan contributed reporting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/ny...1&ref=nyregion

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company