Park It Here: Thor Finds New Use for Coney Land

It's anyone's guess what the final Coney Island resolution will be, but for now, we can say that developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities have found a new use for some of their land: a parking lot. The big plot of land along Stillwell Avenue that experienced premature demolition last year was being used (at least, temporarily) yesterday as a parking lot. Thor intends to have carnival rides on the land starting on May 22 for about a week-and-a-half. There are also "space for rent" signs all over its properties (example below), which would indicate the developer is trying to derive revenue from land from which tenants were removed in the winter of 2006.

Coney Island Day After: "Recent Modest Adjustments" to Plan

Coney Island Development Corp. President Lynn Kelly sent out an email late yesterday about what she called "recent modest adjustments to the Coney Island zoning framework that have both strengthened our finalized plans and will help to move this critically important project toward completion." Ms. Kelly adds that the changes have "increased development opportunities for enclosed amusements and year-round entertainment retail uses." Yesterday, a story in the New York Times noted that the city had reduced the amount of land it wanted to acquire and redevelop as an amusement park from 15 acres to 9 acres. (The land removed from the plan is shown in blue, which we superimposed on an original city map of the plan.) The revision would leave six acres of land in the hands of private owners, most notably developer Joe Sitt, who would retain ownership of significant parcels. Neither the Times article nor Kelly's letter spelled out the exact uses or building height that would be allowed on the land. Here are some excerpts from the letter:

While the zoning framework we announced last Fall was a detailed and thoughtful realization of these core principles (and many more), we said from the outset that it was also a work in progress and that we would continue to work with Coney Island’s elected officials, community leaders, land owners and residents to ensure that the final plan was the best it could possibly be.

I am pleased, therefore, to be able to update you on some recent modest adjustments to the Coney Island zoning framework that have both strengthened our finalized plans and will help to move this critically important project toward completion. This revised framework represents an extremely strong foundation for Coney Island’s revitalization and we are excited about now moving forward with it through the public review process. While we will be sharing much more detailed information with you and other Coney Island stakeholders soon, we wanted to share just a few brief updates on some of these modifications:

* We have increased development opportunities for enclosed amusements and year-round entertainment retail uses

* To accommodate this increased development, while still preserving a major amusement district and enabling us to develop a world class amusement park, we have decreased the size of the new mapped parkland from 15 to 9 acres

* We have created the opportunity for existing land owners – such as long time Coney Island boosters like the Vourderis family, owners of the Wonder Wheel – to develop their properties

Along with these positive changes, we have maintained our commitment to the fundamental aspects of the Coney Island plan, such as the need to create additional active, exciting, year-round entertainment-related uses in Coney East and prevent the district from becoming a generic seaside shopping mall; our steadfast belief that residential housing is not appropriate for the amusement district; and a continued effort to limit higher-density hotels and taller structures to the areas along Surf Avenue, away from the Boardwalk.

As you can see, while some details have been altered in our quest to make this plan a reality, what hasn’t changed is our commitment to our core principles and our overall vision for what Coney Island should – and shouldn’t – be as we secure its long term well-being. We are proud that we are already receiving positive feedback from key stakeholders on our recent efforts – for example, as you will note in the attached article, Councilman Domenic Recchia, Borough President Marty Markowitz and key landowners such as Dennis Vourderis told the NY Times that they were “optimistic” and believed the City “was headed in the right direction” – and we look forward to bringing you up to date with additional information in the near future.

This morning, on WNYC, Mr. Sitt's land use attorney called the revised proposal "a major step forward." A significant amount of the land that has been removed from the amusement park plan belongs to Mr. Sitt and his firm, Thor Equities. State legislation would still be needed to allow the transfer of "parkland" that would complete the deal. Presumably, that would face less political opposition if Mr. Sitt--who would get to develop more land in the heart of the amusement district and acquire well-positioned land where highrise residential development would not draw opposition--and other property owners were on board and behind the significantly revised strategy. Much, much more to come.

Sitt Bringing Carnival Rides to Coney for a Week

The previous news that developer Joe Sitt would be having rides and games on the big parcel of land that he cleared last year is partially true. The developer announced yesterday that carnival rides will be set up on the property from May 22 to June 1, although there is no indication whether he plans to make use of any of the land during the rest of the summer. The carnival operator will be Reithoffer Shows, which runs bigs shows and fairs on the East Coast. Someone on the Coney Island Message Board immediately posted information that, last year, OSHA cited the company for alleged safety and health violations at two Pennsylvania carnival sites, with proposed fines totaling $62,000, including one incident in which an employee fell from the top of a ride.

A Sitt Fence Comes Down in Coney Island

[Left photo courtesy of Captain Nemo/Coney Island Message Board]

A Coney Island food stand that was shut down last year and surrounded with a fence by developer Joe Sitt has lost the fence. The poster known as Captain Nemo at the Coney Island Message Board took a photo of the de-fenced stand, which had offered a magnificent backdrop last year for people eating in front of a tagged fence amidst trash. Whether Mr. Sitt is simply investing in a better fence or will actually allow a tenant to operate the stand this season is unknown. Here' hoping for the latter, but expecting the former.

Bklink: Flip or Flop?

Developer Joe Sitt flip his Albee Square property because he wanted to make a killing or because he failed to find a way to develop it? "Sitt paid $25 million for the mall in 2001, floating plans to build a roughly 1 million-square-foot tower, but instead sold it last year to Acadia Realty Trust for $125 million after making relatively minor improvements. Chris Havens, who has long worked in the Downtown Brooklyn market, said Sitt actually tried to find investors and an anchor tenant for the tower but came up dry."--Brownstoner

Things in Coney Get Curiouser: Sitt Shows at Lola Staar Party

We missed the Lola Staar party in Coney Island on Sunday because we were busy in Williamsburg and we couldn't be two places at one time. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision. As it turns out, developer Joe Sitt decided to make an appearance at the Staar party, which took place at Ruby's on the boardwalk. The Village Voice's Neil deMause filed this report on the Voice blog Runnin' Scared:

...the Coney old guard gathered at Ruby's venerable (and venerated) boardwalk restaurant for a celebration: Dianna Carlin's Lola Staar Boutique, given up for dead after Sitt refused to extend her lease after a squabble over that same gag order, had reopened, once again making the boardwalk safe for Cyclone baby tees and mermaid floaty pens. Sitt, explains Carlin, had called her the day before the "Save Coney Island" rally she organized at City Hall last month, and after an hour-long phone chat, ultimately agreed to extend her stay through October for "very little money"; Carlin didn't sign a confidentiality clause, she stresses, and plans to continue to speak out against Thor's condo plans.

The party featured a hot pink cake and the guitar stylings of Polar Bear Club troubadour Amos Wengler (his "Lola Staar Is Back," with its singalong chorus of "Don't mess with Lola/She's gonna react," was a particular hit). But all were upstaged when in walked Joe Sitt himself, dressed in shades and a polo shirt. As onlookers goggled, the developer grabbed a plate of sausage and onions, and greeted his erstwhile adversary Carlin like an old friend.

While Sitt wouldn't comment on the record—he spent much of his time at Ruby's ducking the videographers who dogged his every step—his Thor associate Digna Rodriguez-Poulton hinted that the fenced-in tire-strewn wasteland that currently occupies much of Thor's Coney holdings wouldn't remain that way all summer, with a circus a possibility in July or August.

Given the remarks passed around at the Ruby's bar, Sitt still has a long way to go to win over a skeptical Coney populace. ("You're Joe Sitt?" one patron gasped on meeting him. "You don't have horns!") Even Carlin, who once again seems hopeful about the future, with a sitdown scheduled with Sitt for next week to discuss his plans, isn't deluding herself that all is now copacetic: "It's all about bargaining tactics, and if that doesn't work, he could be back to evicting us all in a few months."

It gets curiouser and curiouser.

[Photo courtesy Runnin' Scared/Village Voice]