Thursday, November 12, 2009

Taxpayers get hosed at Coney Island

From Curbed:

Sitt spent just over $90 million acquiring the Coney land in 2005, and for years has halfheartedly pursued his own redevelopment plan while evicting businesses and demanding upwards of $140 million from the city for the 10.5 acres Bloomberg wanted. Nastiness has reigned on both sides, and in the end he'll get $95.7 million in taxpayer skrilla for seven acres, a slightly ridiculous amount given the market value of land nowadays. Sitt says he'll develop hotels and stores on his remaining land. Meanwhile, the city will seek out an interim amusement operator for Coney Island before going after a developer that'll create a year-round wonderland. Check back on that around 2067 or so.

And from Mr. Angry:

There is no doubt in my mind that this has been a done deal for weeks (or even months) now. Of course, Bloomberg needed to wait until after the election before announcing this huge waste of taxpayer money so that he wouldn’t appear to be what he is at heart: A real estate developer. A snake. A thief.

95.6M$ of tax payers money handed to a shady developer who destroyed Coney Island.

Who the hell pays 95M for a scant few acres of real estate in a ghetto neighborhood??!!! how many fire houses, police tours and hospitals could have been kept open with 95M??? or the 100M he blew on buying the election? (No, that is not going to be forgotten).

5 comments:

Flushing Friend said...

Hey Brooklyn!
Welcome to Queens...

Anonymous said...

I wonder if & what the finders fee was for Councilman Recchia , Joe Sitt's best buddy.

Anonymous said...

I thought the city was broke and had no money.

Mayor Bloomturd said...

"I thought the city was broke and had no money."

No problem. Plenty left for Wallet's Point! Right Claire, my queen?

Sergey Kadinsky said...

So our city has no money to reopen the NYS Pavilion, but enough to purchase Coney Island?

Perhaps our next comptroller, who happens to be a Queens resident, will speak up for our borough's fair share.