State Senator: Coney Island plan DOA

From the NY Observer:

Add another obstacle to the Bloomberg administration’s plans to remake Coney Island: a parking lot.

Despite many an overture to election officials in southern Brooklyn, the administration has been unable to get anyone in Albany to carry a bill “alienating,” or declassifying, as parkland a large parking lot for the KeySpan Park baseball stadium, a measure that is central to the city’s plans. And the clock is ticking: The legislative session wraps June 22.

“Legislators have a problem with doing something that could appear to be taking somebody else’s property,” State Senator Diane Savino, who represents the district, said. “We would prefer that they come to a resolution with Thor Equities so we can move forward with this process.”

But even if the city does ultimately strike a deal with Mr. Sitt—which would seem to go a long way toward assuaging Ms. Savino’s concerns—there is still the issue of Carl Kruger. Chairman of the State Senate’s Finance Committee, Mr. Kruger has been vocally opposed to the whole concept behind the city’s proposal for the area, characterizing its plans as pie in the sky.

“The proposal is DOA,” Mr. Kruger said Tuesday. “They have no developer, they have no operator, they have no funding source, they’re short on affordable housing and they’re high on market housing.”