As spectators and competitive eaters gather in Coney Island to watch the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, a dark cloud hovers over this iconic eatery.

The City’s flawed rezoning plan for Coney Island would endanger Nathan’s Famous and other historic structures in the area.

The City’s plan shrinks Coney Island’s famed amusement area and inserts four soaring hotel towers — rising up to 27 stories — into the heart of the historic, low-rise amusement district. These high-rises would be placed along the south side of Surf Avenue, endangering many of Coney Island’s few remaining historic buildings, including Nathan’s Famous.

The City’s own environmental impact statement for its rezoning plan notes: “Nathan’s Famous… is located on a potential development site…. There are no procedures in place that would ensure pre-construction design review or preventative measures to minimize effects on Nathan’s Famous of construction and potential demolition or enlargement.”

Save Coney Island spokesman Juan Rivero said: “The City’s decision to endanger some of Coney Island’s most historic buildings is madness. The City needs to fix its plan and relocate these high-rises. The idea of replacing Nathan’s with a high-rise would be hard to swallow — even for a champion competitive eater.”

Coney Island’s Community Board 13, The New York Times editorial board and the Municipal Art Society all have urged the City to move the proposed high-rise hotels outside of the core amusement district.

The New York Times warned that 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.”

For background see here and here.