NEW YORK—A small army of activists from Coney Island traveled to city hall on Wednesday to challenge plans that they fear will turn the famed-amusement park neighborhood into a bland, corporate empire.
During a press conference on the steps of city hall, they called out their nemesis, developer Thor Equities, and the city on plans to build high-rise hotels and shrink their amusement district.
Juan Rivero from Save Coney Island said that Coney Island is “identifiable in the world’s imagination as an amusement park.”
The city’s plans would reduce Coney Island’s current 60 acres zoned for amusement to a simple 12-acre strip. Four hotels, towering up to 27 stories each would be built on the south side of Surf Avenue and would block view of some of the neighborhood’s landmarks.
The proposed zoning would also allow chain and retail businesses in the amusement zone. Locals fear this would endanger the small, locally owned businesses that make the area unique.
“This would spell the end of Coney Island,” Rivero said, adding that the city is “fighting the very thing that makes Coney Island appealing.”
During a press conference on the steps of city hall, they called out their nemesis, developer Thor Equities, and the city on plans to build high-rise hotels and shrink their amusement district.
Juan Rivero from Save Coney Island said that Coney Island is “identifiable in the world’s imagination as an amusement park.”
The city’s plans would reduce Coney Island’s current 60 acres zoned for amusement to a simple 12-acre strip. Four hotels, towering up to 27 stories each would be built on the south side of Surf Avenue and would block view of some of the neighborhood’s landmarks.
The proposed zoning would also allow chain and retail businesses in the amusement zone. Locals fear this would endanger the small, locally owned businesses that make the area unique.
“This would spell the end of Coney Island,” Rivero said, adding that the city is “fighting the very thing that makes Coney Island appealing.”
