Luna Park 2.0 To Launch by Memorial Day
To much fanfare (and press coverage), Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that a new amusement park would open this summer at Coney Island, initially with 19 rides. To be called “Luna Park at Coney Island” in reference to the world-famous attraction that flourished at the site in the first half of the twentieth century, the new…
To much fanfare (and press coverage), Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that a new amusement park would open this summer at Coney Island, initially with 19 rides. To be called “Luna Park at Coney Island” in reference to the world-famous attraction that flourished at the site in the first half of the twentieth century, the new park will be run by Central Amusement International and open by Memorial Day. Coney Island remains one of the most known and beloved neighborhoods around the world, but for decades its famed amusement park has dwindled to just a tiny fraction of what it once was, the mayor said. This summer, we’re reversing that trend. The park will be located on three parcels of land along the boardwalk that were purchased by the city as part of a $95.6 million, 6.9-acre deal with Thor Equities. The launch of Luna Park is supposed to be accompanied by commencement of plans to create a mix of residential and retail development close by.
Coney Island Rides Again [NY Times]
Coney Island to Add New Amusement Park [NY Post]
Coney Island Will Get Two New Amusement Parks [NY Daily News]
It May Actually Be a Summer of Fun at Coney [Brooklyn Paper]
New Amusement Rides Coming to Coney [Brooklyn Eagle]
New Rides Set For Coney Island This Spring [NY1]
NYC EDC bought this property from Thor in November, 2009, for well over $80 million. They rented it to CAI two months later for $0.37 (yes, that’s 37 cents!) per square foot per year. See http://www.citypragmatist.com for more.
But folks, the whole point is to bring Coney Island back to what it used to be: a world-class amusement park and beachfront destination. This is a good first step.
they came in, fired everyone in maintenance, lobby, elevators, etc. then rehired tards for minimum wage and only keep them around for a few weeks at a time.
*rob*
ah yes, joe sitt and Thor equities. they bought our office builing here in manhattan 2 years ago. they are the biggest buttholes ever.
*rob*
LOLcat- the problem is your browser. Open it up to full screen. Then close it, and then restart. That always works for me with firefox. The browser seems to remember the last settings used.
rob- that flea market was set up by Joe Sitt, the developer whom everyone hated. No one wanted to be part of it.
Coney Island circa 1924. Sad.
http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/?z=8&p=989680,149129&c=orthos1924
PS: Please fix my firefox broswer automatically resizing… sooo annoying!
remember last summer’s epic fail when they tried to have some outdoor flea market or something? and like no one showed up and the only people who wound up renting tables to sell stuff were the stereotypical tube socks guys? all the money the city put into the advetising and promoting last summer for coney island was for naught.
coney island should have been left alone as it is and just better maintained.
*rob*
The NYTimes standards continue to slide: the caption for the above pic: “A somewhat abstractified rendering of the future Luna Park.”
The projections by the city don’t look much better (http://www.nycedc.com/PressRoom/PressKit/PressImages/Pages/PressImages.aspx#13), so I am totally with *rob* on this one. Ugh.
I live close to Coney Island (short bicycle ride) now, and the beach is pretty clean, but the area is really crappy. I don’t ride there to often. I don’t enjoy anything about it.