Weekend Team Thor Update

There is an important update in the still developing story of the roster of the Thor Equities Coney Island team. You might recall that, on Wednesday, Lee Silberstein of the Marino Organization, which has handled public relations for the embattled Coney Island redevelopment plan, let people know that he was no longer on the Thor job. The next day, we found out that the firm working as Thor's land use attorney, Kramer Levin, was also off the Coney job. Yesterday, Crains filled in some important detail on the identity of the new players:

In a sign that Thor Equities is gearing up for a fight over the Bloomberg administration's proposal for rezoning of Coney Island, the company has hired James Capalino of Capalino & Co. and Knickerbocker SKD to handle its lobbying, public relations and outreach moving forward. Landowner Thor has submitted several designs for remaking the amusement park, but the Department of City Planning has rejected them and is expected to present its own vision this fall. A Bloomberg administration spokesman says, "We remain committed to our objectives for Coney Island and are looking forward to working with stakeholders to achieve them."

Mr. Capalino is a former commissioner in the Koch Administration. One of our very informed Coney sources confirmed that both the Marino Organization and Kramer Levin were dismissed by developer Joe Sitt. "Joe apparently isn't listening to anyone who isn't telling him what he wants to hear," he observes.