GL Mystery of the Week: Who's on First in Coney Island?

One of the more interesting things about those bootleg Coney Island drawings that were released without authorization is the news that the flashy firm Arquitectonica of Miami is working on Coney Island Plans for the Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC). Arquitectonica has, in fact, been "quietly working" on Coney redevelopment plans for the CIDC since March.

The CIDC is the entity that has jurisdiction over Coney Island redevelopment projects in an area bounded roughly by the boarwalk, Surf Avenue, W. 24th Street and the Aquarium. (You will recall the story in the Sun a couple of days ago that broke the news that drawings that had been posted were "unauthorized.")

The only big development that has been announced so far in Coney Island is the one that would be built by Thor Equities between Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk on both sides of Stillwell Avenue. The main features of the plan as posted, were a movie theater, shopping complex, kiosks shaped like the Parachute Jump that say "Coney," a new pier with a big ferris wheel, an indoor water park and two-three highrises (which in the "unauthorized" renderings appear to be as tall as 30-40 stories).

Who's on first? We're not sure.

It is unclear what, exactly, Arquitectonica is working on, except that it's responsible for non-Thor parts of the project. The firm did not tell the Sun what it was doing and deflected questions to the Department of City Planning.

As we understand the process, Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn has been working on the Thor designs and plans and, then, running them through the CIDC with input presumably coming from Arquitectonica, which is the firm that designed the 45-story Westin Hotel on Eighth Avenue and has designed some of the highrises at the Queens West development in Long Island City. Without getting into a long discourse about Arquitectonica, let's simply say that the firm's work in New York City has not been without its controversies or been without detractors.

The interesting part of this is that the CIDC, which has been so publicly invisible and silent that one might suspect a public information blackout, or at least, a comatose PR staff, has made no mention of Arquitectonica's involvement. Look at the CIDC website, and you will look in vain. (Look at CIDC's website for anything and you will look in vain; the only thing available is a handful of press releases, some bromide-laden bloviations about its mission and some other uninformative pap. It is a virtually information-free site, either by design or accident.) Google Coney Island Development Corporation and Arquitectonica and you will likewise find zip (other than the Sun article).

So, here's the punch line: If Arquitectonica has been working on the Coney Island redevelopment project since March, why has it taken until August for this to become clear? Or, as a GL reader put it, "Isn't it kind of a huge deal, considering their reputation and record in NYC?" We don't know, but it certainly seems that it would have been worth mentioning before now. And, of course, now that we know Arquitectonica's been put on the payroll, what in blazes are they doing?

We understand that shutting the public out of the decision-making process has a long and glorious history in New York City and other places, and that planners like nothing more than to hold an event and unveil their plans so that everyone can ooh and ahh. Nevertheless, a little bit of light and openness is not only good for the community--and, well, democratic--it can sometimes result in a better plan and better projects.

Perhaps we are reading too much into this or trying to make a sand castle where there is nothing, but it would seem that CIDC and Thor and (now) Arquitectonica and who knows who else--maybe Frank Gehry or Santiago Calatrava will step out the shadows--are trying to get their planning done in private so they too can become charter members of the Fait Accompli School of Brooklyn Development, also known as the Done Deal School, Brooklyn Campus.

Face it: Getting community input--at all stages of the process--is a messy thing, especially in a place like Brooklyn where opinions tend to be strongly and widely held. The end result, though, is public buy-in, a sense of fairness and a better built environment.

Now, can someone please tell us what the heck Arquitectonica is doing in Coney Island?