This video, released before the July 2009 City Council Rezoning vote, lays out the issues.

Everybody agrees that Coney Island urgently needs to be revitalized. Once the World’s Playground, Coney Island still draws millions of visitors but has too many empty lots and too few amusements.

Map of Rezoning of Coney Island

Unfortunately, the  redevelopment plan that city plans to implement would do permanent, irreversible damage to Coney Island by shrinking the outdoor amusement area and blocking it off with high-rise hotels that would replace historic buildings like Nathan’s Famous.

If implemented, experts agree that the City’s Plan would destroy forever the dream of a revitalized Coney Island that is an amusement destination for the world. Click here to read what the CEO of Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, the New York Times Editorial Board and the city’s leading historians have to say about the plan.

Here is a breakdown of the critical flaws with the City’s Plan:

ISSUE #1: CITY’S PLAN ALLOWS TOO LITTLE SPACE FOR OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS

Amusement rides take up a lot of space. The City’s plan allows only 12 acres for Outdoor amusements, much of which is already taken up with existing rides like the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel. This is simply too little space for a world-class amusement area that could serve the needs of the estimated 3.5M visitors that experts say would come to a revitalized Coney Island. According to the Municipal Art Society, at least 25 acres needs to be set aside for outdoor amusements to ensure Coney Island can reach its potential. View the MAS presentation here.

ISSUE #2: CITY’S PLAN CREATES A WALL OF HIGH-RISE HOTELS

Coney Island’s amusement area is currently open to the sky with only low-rise, historic buildings standing between it and Surf Avenue. Under the City’s plan, these buildings would be replaced with as many as four high-rise hotels and other new development, rising up to 280ft. These buildings would have the effect of creating a “wall” between Surf Avenue and the ride, beach and boardwalk, casting shadows, blocking the sky and generally making the amusement area feel like the private backyard of the high-rise buildings. The high-rise hotels should be relocated north of Surf Avenue and west of Keyspan Park, where they would complement the amusement area instead of ruining it.

ISSUE #3: CITY’S PLAN DESTROYS CONEY’S FEW REMAINING HISTORIC BUILDINGS

There is more left of Ancient Rome than turn-of-the-century Coney Island. Despite this, the city proposes to redevelop the few remaining historic buildings with high-rise buildings and other new developments. New Yorkers don’t need to choose between protecting the best of the past and allowing new development: collectively, these buildings take up very little space, leaving plenty of land for new rides and amusements. Buildings like Nathan’s Famous, the Coney Island Bank and other historic structures represent a vital part of our cultural heritage and should be protected as part of a Coney Island historic district. Click here to read more on the landmarking effort.

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These issues can be addresed by giving landmark protection to Coney Island’s remaining heritage through the creation of a historic district and reversing the zoning that allows high-rise hotels along the South Side of Surf Avenue and indoor, “Times Square”-style entertainment on much of the land that should be set aside for open-air amusements. Additionally, the City can successfully revitalize Coney Island by purchasing further land in Coney Island and developing it appropriately regardless of the zoning.

Other steps that the City could take to constructively revitalize Coney Island include:
·      Dramatically improving the Aquarium dramatically improved
·      Restoring express train service to Stillwell Avenue from Manhattan
·      Restoring the Shore Theater restored as a venue for performing arts

Click here to take action to help us keep the dream of a revitalized Coney Island alive.

THE EXPERTS ON THE CITY’S CURRENT PLAN:

New York Times editorial:
“This zoning proposal would allow a row of four hotels between the Stillwell Avenue subway stop and the outdoor entertainment area. The hotels could too easily become a wall, blocking public access to the sideshows and the rides, the boardwalk and the ocean. The hotels also squeeze the outdoor rides into a narrow strip of about 12 acres — an area that is simply too small to attract enough rides and attractions to bring back the big crowds.”

Municipal Art Society :
“The MAS is… concerned about the substantial reduction in the size of the area set aside for open-air amusements from 16 to 9 acres in the revised plan released in April. We are not aware of any other amusement areas of a comparable scale that come close to achieving the number of visitors that is the market for a revitalized Coney Island or even Coney Island today. We are concerned that the proposed area set aside for open-air amusements is of insufficient size and that as a result this revitalization effort will not be successful.”

Dick Zigun, founder of Coney Island USA:
“[S]hopping and hotels are not amusements and will not be a draw…. the lure of Coney Island will never be NikeTown and a 30-story hotel.
“If the city gets its way, it won’t be Coney Island anymore. And if we lose Coney Island now, it will be gone forever. That is why I oppose this plan.”

Charles Denson, executive director of Coney Island History Project:
“This rezoning… reduces what was once known as the world’s playground to something the size of a children’s playground…. Coney Island’s future as a world-class tourist destination is being sacrificed. What could have been an economic engine for New York City and the Coney Island community is being smothered by politically motivated, uninspired development.”

Lars Liebst, CEO of Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens, world’s second-oldest amusement park:

“I think the whole area out there could be an area where not only the locals or the domestic travelers but also the international travelers would love to go…. you can make this a destination. But if you make it a destination, you should really think big…. That’s not what they’re doing at the moment. [The city’s] plan, it is getting smaller and smaller every time I see a new plan. I think there’s a huge danger that this plan won’t work.
“I think you have to come up with a much larger perspective for the development of Coney Island… First of all, it will get a lot of the locals jobs; it will serve the purpose of getting a new income source for New York… and it will be a destination or it could be a destination like the Chrysler Building, like Central Park, if you do it right….”

Michael Immerso, author of “Coney Island: The People’s Playground”:
“New York’s goal of making Coney a year-round tourist destination is worthy of support — but not in a way that leaves insufficient space for seasonal attractions and amusements that have become synonymous with Coney Island. The city hasn’t yet struck a proper balance. Under the current plan, too little land is allotted for the outdoor amusements, arcades and game stands that have long been Coney Island summer staples. The redevelopment zone comprises some 47 acres, and with the right zoning there can be ample space for year-round attractions without confining classic Coney Island amusements to a fraction of that area.”

Leaders of six key unions and community advocacy organizations:
“Through years of disinvestment, the active amusement area at Coney Island has been shrinking and must be strengthened to become a destination for all New Yorkers and tourists once more. To strengthen the “people’s playground,” the City must preserve more space for outdoor amusements and the small businesses and vendors who have kept Coney Island alive, invest in historic icons, develop an interim plan for amusements before construction is completed, and reinvest the revenue from City-owned land back into the community.”

Fifteen historians of New York City :
“Coney Island is a place of great national historic significance. It is the birthplace of the modern American amusement industry. The City’s rezoning plan for Coney Island, however, dishonors its past and sacrifices its future.”

Ned Jacobs, son of urban visionary Jane Jacobs:
“While I cannot speak on behalf of my mother, the late Jane Jacobs, or predict what she would think about particular proposals today, in my view, this rezoning plan for Coney Island does not appear to reflect the urban values and planning principles she espoused.”

Christine Quinn, City Council speaker, on the campaign to save Coney Island:
“If anyone thinks Jane Jacobs’ tradition is dead, they could go to the City Council phone line, where Coney Island folks have been calling in on a regular, regular basis.”

Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President:

“My vision is clear: Number 1: the amusement area must be protected. Number 2: we have to make the amusement area as large as possible. If the city needs to purchase land, it should purchase land to preserve it.”

Legal Situation

Save Coney Island believes that the City’s rezoning plan for Coney Island would destroy the dream of a revitalized, world-class Coney Island forever by permanently shrinking the outdoor amusement area and blocking it off with a wall of high-rise hotels that would replace historic buildings like Nathan’s Famous.

Although the City’s rezoning plan for Coney Island passed the City Council in July 2009, our lawyers believe believe the City failed to perform the  required environmental review to the legal standard. For example, the City failed to adequately study a meaningful alternative to their proposed plan, or properly consider the impacts of the high-rise hotels on the pedestrian experience at Coney Island.

Save Coney Island has brought a lawsuit because it is the only way to prevent the plan from being implemented and to keep the dream of a world-class amusement area alive.

Our legal team is led by Al Butzel, who is well-known in New York legal circles for having successfully led the struggle against Westway, a proposal to redevelop Manhattan’s West Side with large new development.
Our legal papers will be posted shortly.