What a difference a day makes

Sunday:

Expect fewer rides but more thrifty retail on the Coney Island boardwalk next summer.

The fabled seaside is losing Astroland Park, but it's gaining it's very own "Flea by the Sea."

That's the quirky name of a massive outdoor flea market developer Joe Sitt is planning to operate April through December along vacant Stillwell Avenue land he owns off the boardwalk.

Sitt is also planning other interim uses next summer along the remaining 10 acres of land he owns in Coney Island, including the Astroland site. This includes new rides, games, food stands and live entertainment, said Sitt spokesman Stefan Friedman.

The announcement shows Sitt isn't planning to buckle anytime soon in an ongoing two-year-old game of chicken over Coney Island's future with the Bloomberg administration.

Monday:

The Bloomberg administration is in serious negotiations to buy 10.5 acres of real estate in Coney Island that once appeared unobtainable – a move that would save both Astroland Park and the mayor's plans to revive the slumping seaside amusement district, The Post has learned.

Developer Joe Sitt is ready to give up his controversial plan to build a $1.5 billion Vegas-style entertainment complex, which the mayor wants no part of, and instead sell all of the beachfront land he's purchased to the city.

While a price is still being negotiated, it is expected that the city would have to shell out $200 million to $250 million for the land, sources close to the negotiations said.

I thought we didn't have the money for these things. Hey, why not just use eminent domain? Oh, I forgot, this is a developer, and we only use that for businesses that stand in their way.

Photo from Gowanus Lounge