Coney Island Issue Reaching Critical Mass?

We don't know the extent to which developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities were hoping for a smooth approval of their $2 billion Coney Island redevelopment scheme--or at least of the necessary zoning changes--but it doesn't seem to be the route which the project will take. Coverage of the project--driven by online sources--has been thorough for some time. In the meantime, the developer seems to have been following a strategy of leaking renderings and some stories to print media outlets. Interviews criticizing the city for moving slowly on rezoning have followed. The most recent curious example was the story that appeared in the New York Observer last week in which Planning Director Amanda Burden seemed to have been ranked among "folks at the junior-most levels of government." The approach would seem to be in marked contrast to that used by developer Bruce Ratner in signing on key public officials and community groups as allies in the process of getting Atlantic Yards approved. (At least, we don't recall any instances of Mr. Ratner calling Empire State Development Corp. Chair Charles Gargano, for example, a bureaucratic stooge. Then again, he didn't have to, as Mr. Gargano never uttered any public doubts about Atlantic Yards.)

We digress, however. Our point is simply to say that opposition seems to be galvanizing. Case in point is "Save Coney Island," a new group that is taking shape to oppose Mr. Sitt's vision of housing in Coney Island's amusement zone. It's planning a theatrical "No Condos in Coney" protest outside Thor headquarters that should draw plenty of cameras. We hear the protest could take place within a few weeks.