From A Walk in the Park:
Under cover of darkness a beloved community garden in Coney Island was bulldozed beginning at 5am Saturday morning to make way for Marty Markowitz's $ 53 million dollar amphitheater. The developer – iStar – destroyed 16 years of a community gardening effort.
A developer bulldozed a beloved community garden in Coney Island on Saturday to make way for an amphitheater — uprooting 20 chickens on a decades-old plot that survived Hurricane Sandy.
Construction workers entered the Boardwalk Garden under the cover of darkness and chucked tools and wheelbarrows, along with farm fowl and a colony of feral cats, activists say.
The chickens were placed in pet carriers on the sidewalk and the felines were left fending for themselves.
“They destroyed life!” fumed tearful volunteer Elena Voitsenko, 60, a Russian immigrant who told The Post she’ll take in the birds until they find a new home.
“I came to America to escape from the communist regime,” she added. “This is more than the communist regime! They came at 4 in the morning.”
Workers razed the sprawling, 70,000-square-foot garden on West 22nd Street about a week after the City Council approved plans to convert the empty Childs Restaurant and its adjacent land into a 5,000-seat venue.
The $53 million project was trumpeted by outgoing Borough President Marty Markowitz, who tried previously to build a controversial amphitheater in Asser Levy Park in 2009.
Under the new plan, the city will buy the Childs building from iStar Financial and turn it into a restaurant and concert venue. The adjacent garden is slated to become a seating area.
The community board voted against the project in September, and locals have railed against turning the historic property into a noisy venue.
2 comments:
I wonder if they got an after hours permit for the bulldozing.
We DO have laws regarding when construction noise may be made.
What a damn shame. We have no say in this city! They do whatever they want these politicians.
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