[NYguy]

More on the boardwalk changes...

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The redevelopment plan...

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And more news on the development front...

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories..._05_07_bk.html
Demolition man! Sitt to tear down the spot where Harpo Marx made his debut


This is how Thor Equities envisions the corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues next summer.

By Joe Maniscalco
May 3, 2010

Coney Island is gearing up for a summer of new rides and circus attractions, but the neighborhood’s main private landowner is instead tearing down historic buildings — including the place where Harpo Marx made his comic debut — and replacing them with a temporary fast-food stand.

The turn-of-the-last-century buildings facing the wrecking ball include the Grashorn Building, the Henderson Music Hall and the Surf Hotel located between Stillwell Avenue and Henderson Walk.

Current occupants include a Popeye’s fried chicken outlet and Faber’s Fascination, an arcade. Shopkeepers said that they are aware of the looming demolition work, but aren’t concerned that they will be forced out before the summer seasons.

That confidence seems to be misguided. “This summer is going to be about the demolition,” said Thor Equities spokesperson Loren Riegelhaupt, claiming that the ramshackle structures are filled with asbestos. Riegelhaupt said that Thor Equities must clear the land now in order to have new retail shops open for the 2011 summer season.

It is unclear what shops Thor is proposing. A rendering put out by the company last week shows a burger outlet and a taco stand.

The demolition work is what Thor Equities calls “phase one” of its longstanding Coney Island ambitions.

Though the rendering shows only a one-story structure, the land was rezoned last year for high-rise hotels — which Thor CEO Joe Sitt has promised to build once the city fixes the ancient infrastructure in the area, part of tens of millions of dollars in improvements that the city promised as part of a rezoning that envisions a new golden age for Coney Island.

“Once the infrastructure is in place, we will be doing different and bigger kind of things,” Riegelhaupt said.

But critics say that Coney Island is losing part of its historic heritage to the wrecking ball of a company that has a history of buying land, getting lucrative rezonings, clearing away older structures and then re-selling the land for a handsome profit.

Thor Equities did just that in 2007, selling the Albee Square Mall in Downtown for $125 million after paying just $25 million for it six years earlier.

And Sitt spent much of the decade — and about $100 million — assembling parcels all over the amusement area of Coney Island. He sold a little more than half of that land to the city last year for $95.6 million, retaining several key acres surrounding the city’s planned amusement park.

That land includes the Grashorn Building, as well as the Henderson Music Hall building and the Surf Hotel — both built around 1900.

In its heyday, the Henderson building was home to popular vaudeville shows and was the venue for comedian Harpo Marx’s debut.

That alone makes it worthy of saving, perhaps as a night club, said Dick Zigun, executive director of Coney Island USA, which producers the annual Mermaid Parade.

“You could call it ‘Harpo’s Place,’ ” the unofficial mayor of Coney Island said. “It would be a shame to lose the building, it has incredible history.”

Preservationists had hoped to include the sites in a newly created “historic corridor” along Surf Avenue, but the city denied any historical significance to the buildings.

“These buildings were thoroughly reviewed by the city [before] last year’s rezoning and determined to have no significant historic value whatsoever,” said Stefan Friedman, another Thor spokesman. “Some of these buildings are asbestos-infested ramshackle buildings that pose a very real risk to the local community.”

But some say Sitt is the greater risk, given his history.

“Joe Sitt’s record has been one of demolition and leaving a hole in the ground, and not building what he says he’s going to build,” said Juan Rivero, spokesman for Save Coney Island, which favors a larger amusement area than the city proposes to build.

Indeed, in its several years as a Coney landlord, Thor has done little except boot Astroland. Thor’s previous attempts to maintain foot traffic in Coney Island include last year’s “Festival by the Sea,” a failed flea market on Stillwell Avenue, shuttering Boardwalk businesses, a five-day circus, and a collection of rides that didn’t even last the full summer.

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http://www.yournabe.com/articles/201...0_05_07_bk.txt
Coney Island's new Luna Park will turn you inside-out this summer
Most of the new rides will be spinning, whirling craziness

By Joe Maniscalco
May 2, 2010

Get ready to lose your lunch.

Central Amusement International, operators of the new Luna Park in Coney Island, say that at least 12 of the 19 rides headed for Surf Avenue in just a few short weeks will twist, twirl, rotate, or revolve in some sort of chaotic fashion.

One of the rides called the Beach Shack may sound innocuous enough — but it simulates being on top of a whirling tornado.

In some respects, another ride called the Brooklyn Flyer resembles the familiar Parachute Jump — except that this tower actually turns and whips riders around at gut-wrenching speeds.

The Electro Spin sort of recalls Astroland’s old Pirate Ship, but in addition to rocking riders at the bottom of a sweeping arc, it also spins them on a rotating disk.

Park operators promise that medical aid will be available to anyone who is unable to keep down their cheese fries.

The company is the process of hiring about 230 people to staff Luna Park — seven of those positions are for first aid specialists.

Doctors say anyone can suffer from motion sickness, but children up to age 12 are especially susceptible.

Kids will have to be at least 48 inches tall to take a solo ride on the Beach Shack, Electro Spin, Brooklyn Flyer — or another new ride called The Tickler that’s modeled after a Coney Island original. Kids standing 42 inches tall can ride with an adult.

All of the new rides are being made by Italian ride manufacturer Zamperla, an industry leader.

“They don’t specialize in spinning rides per se, but they are certainly good at making them,” said spokesperson Tom Corcillo.

Indeed, not all of Luna Park’s new rides will throw you for a loop — some will drop out of the sky.

“It’s not just spins,” Corcillo said. “There will be drops, flips and splashes, too.”

Crews are working hard to get the three-acre site at W. 10th Street — formerly the home of Astroland — ready for Luna Park’s Memorial Day Weekend debut.

Rides are expected to begin arriving shortly. Some, according to park operators, can be assembled in one day.