In response to today’s City Council vote to approve the Bloomberg administration’s flawed rezoning plan for Coney Island, grassroots activist group Save Coney Island issued the following statement from its spokesman, Juan Rivero:This is a sad day for New York City. As a result of this rezoning, people across the city and around the world who love Coney Island could see its historic amusement district shrunk, covered up and blocked off with high-rises, its history destroyed and its potential squandered — all for nothing.
There are numerous places around the globe that have built glorious parks that pay tribute to Coney Island. Here, where we have the original, the city has been all too happy to shrink it out of existence.
The City Council had an opportunity to fix this plan. Unfortunately, it chose not to do so.
This plan shrinks Coney Island’s famed amusement district, leaving behind a tiny amusement park of only 12 acres. It allows four huge high-rises — up to 27 stories tall — in the heart of the historic amusement district, walling off the beach and the rides. It invites developers to tear down Coney Island’s handful of historic buildings, including Nathan’s Famous and others that are more than a century old.
The Bloomberg administration has stubbornly ignored the appeals of the Municipal Art Society, The New York Times, Save Coney Island, longtime Astroland owner Carol Albert, Coney Island’s unofficial ‘mayor’ Dick Zigun and leading New York historians to fix its plan.
This rezoning plan will irreparably damage Coney Island. Now it’s up to the Bloomberg administration to mitigate that damage by working to increase the size of the outdoor amusement area and by preventing the construction of high-rises in the middle of the amusement district. It is our hope and expectation that it will do so.
Why would Mayor Bloomberg want his legacy to be associated with the destruction of Coney Island’s amusement district — with the destruction of this iconic place? Wouldn’t he rather go down in history as the mayor who restored Coney Island to its rightful stature, and saved it for the next generation?
If the Bloomberg administration does not have the perspective and the humility to revise its plan, this rezoning will be remembered as a disgraceful moment in the history of our city, akin to the demolition of the old Penn Station.
Photo from Who Walk in Brooklyn
14 comments:
To hell with waiting for his re-re-election! Let's impeach that Bloomturd monster now before it replicates. This is truly terrible news for a Queens kid who visited Coney Island and even rode a horse on the steeplechase! Why must this administration voraciously destroy historical sites for the pockets of wealthy developers?
IMPEACH BLOOMTURD NOW...or else it will all be lost forever.
A new Penn Station
A new WTC
A 2nd Avenue Subway
Atlantic Yards
A new LIRR downtown connector
A new Willets Point
A new Madison Garden
A new Coney Island...
THEY AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN FOLKS- NOT FOR A HUNDRED YEARS!!!
No wonder he left Boston, they probably asked him to leave, plus he got fired from his job.
Isn't it time for us to fire him?
A new Penn Station
A new WTC
A 2nd Avenue Subway
Atlantic Yards
A new LIRR downtown connector
A new Willets Point
A new Madison Garden
A new Coney Island...
THEY AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN FOLKS- NOT FOR A HUNDRED YEARS!!!
Yeah! Who needs progress???
We want to rot in our own status quo!
Has nothing to do with what we "want." Has to do with the sheer incompetence of the city when it comes to major development projects combined with the recession. But thanks for the early morning snark.
The handling of this by the media is simply irresponsible: first new roller coaster since the 1920!, here is the developer's rendering! ... and no commment on the downside.
Bastards. Media capital of the world my ass.
Like the new Yankee Stadium (havent been to Citifield yet) and Times Sq
A tourist trap without any authentic NYC soul.
They are bleeding this city.
As I recall, Coney Island has been a sh*t hole for 40 years now. So have the Rockaways. So have a lot of parts of NYC. If someone wants to come in and build new, and get people to live there, fine by me.
"Yeah! Who needs progress???
We want to rot in our own status quo!"
Progress is fine but there is such a thing as over kill at the expense of the tax payer who is turning a shade of blue with extra taxes here there and everywhere. If the little man wants progress let him finance it all with all his millions and leave us the tax payer alone. I am one taxpayer who has had enough.
AREN'T we in a recession? where the hell is bloomberg pulling all this money out for all these projects. out of quinn's slush fund. PEOPLE, please help yvetta kurland who is running against Quinn out. call to volunteer for her. NYC can't survive another 4 years of Quinn
we should build a new new york while they are blowing money out of there asses
the new yankee stadium hasn't help 161st and hasn't created any meaningful jobs. stop all the lies, bloomberg and quinn are handing all our money to their rich buddies. FBi, where are U?????
Oh great another Disneyland or Junkyard stadium.
I can just see it now $100 admission $9 hotdog and a coke.
This mayor has done so much damage I doubt the city can ever recover.
We need somebody like Ron Paul enough with this La Kosher Nostra
The mayor - a carpetbagger from Boston (a village) seeks to build monuments with his name credited. Since he is from nowhere there is no connection to the NY that many of us grew up with.
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