Mermaid Parade Day #1: Will Mermaids Protest Mr. Sitt's Coney Plan?

The Thor Equities/Joe Sitt publicity machine has been in overdrive this week, trying to get things in order as important behind-the-scenes discussions take place with city officials and a lot of people with cameras prepare to descend on today's Mermaid Parade. So, the $1.5-$2 Billion Question is, will there be an Anti-Sitt/Save Coney Island presence at the parade? We believe the answer is going to be yes. In fact, one Coney Island figure, reports being treated to a surprise appearance on Sunday by developer Joe Sitt and his PR representative Lee Silberstein who had an unidentified reporter with them. They reportedly brought the reporter along so he could get a reaction after Mr. Sitt personally related the news of dropping condos from the Coney Island redevelopment plan. The person promises that "real" reactions will be on display today during the parade. The one thing that's for certain is that thousands of cameras will be on hand to capture the feelings and send them everywhere.

In the meantime, we noted that beach chairs and banners had been set up at the site of the new water slide that Thor is installing on the site of the miniature golf course that it installed. It was too dark to get pics yesterday, but Kinetic Carnival was there and has some great shots of the New Look Coney on display for today's crowds.