Save Coney Island

I'd like to meet:

Those who embody the true Spirit of Coney Island!!

The Save Coney Island Organization
*spreads information about the redevelopment
*gives people the opportunity to discuss and express their opinions and ideas about Coney Island
*organizes events which publicly express these convictions

The goal of the Save Coney Island Organization is to preserve this Spirit of Coney Island; this special magnetism that makes billions of people hold Coney Island so dearly in their hearts. This is a historic opportunity to influence the redevelopment of our beloved Coney Island!!

What you can do to SAVE CONEY ISLAND.......

The announced zoning framework is very positive and exciting start to the cultivation of a positive future for Coney Island. This is the beginning stage of the rezoning process. Your input is very important to the refinement of this proposal.

Email a Letter!!

Please email a letter expressing your opinion about the proposed zoning framework to [email protected]

Sign this Petition!!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/167257276?ltl=1173 754589

No Condos in Coney Demonstration

City Hall NYC- March 2007

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Hurray!! Thank you to everyone who made our No Condos in Coney demonstration at City Hall a fabulous success!!

Save Coney Island Cartoon- Village Voice

Music:

Save Coney Island Demonstration!!

Coney Island Boardwalk, May 22nd, 9:45 AM

WHEN:
Thursday, May 22nd- 9:45 AM
(I know it's early but we gotta do it to Save Coney Island!! All the politicians and press will be at the Opening of the Beach Ceremony. It will be a great opportunity to communicate our message to them!! If saving Coney Island isn't a reason to wake up early, I don't know what is!!)

SCHEDULE:
9:45 AM.........Meet at Sideshows by the Seashore- corner of Surf Ave and 12th St
10 AM............Parade around Amusement District and up Boardwalk
10:30 AM......Demonstration at Opening of the Beach Ceremony on the boardwalk!!

Why:
Demonstrate that the Coney Island Community says

NO to High Rises in the Amusement District
NO to Retail, Malls or Entertainment Retail in the Amusement District
NO to shrinkage of the Amusement District from 15 acres to 9 acres!

YES to preserving Amusement Zoning in the Amusement District!!
YES to keeping Coney Island the People's Playground- providing accessible Amusements for ALL to enjoy!!

WHAT TO BRING:
Big Colorful Signs!! (see below for slogan ideas)
Attend our FREE Poster making party on May 13th (details below)

WHAT TO WEAR:
We will be providing FREE Save Coney Island tee shirts to those attending the demonstration (while supplies last!!)
or
Wear the Save Coney Island colors electric blue, red, and yellow!!
or
Costumes! Glitter! Face Paint! Wear whatever costume that you feel expresses the Spirit of Coney Island!!

HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!!:
Download this Save Coney Island Demonstration Flyer
Make copies! Hang it up in your neighborhood! Pass em out!! Decorate your office with them!! Please help us promote these events!!

Saving Coney Island........
One Ounce of Glitter at a Time!!

FREE Poster Making Party!!

WHEN
This Saturday, May 17th 3PM to 6PM

WHERE
Ruby's Restaurant
On the Coney Island BoardwalkBetween 12th Street and Stilwell Ave
Everyone is invited to attend our Poster Making Party!!
Kids!! Adults!! Families!! Come one!! Come all!!
Even if you cannot attend the Demonstration on March 22nd, you are welcome to create posters for other Amusement Revolutionaries to carry at the demonstration!!

Angie Pontani and Lola Staar will be teaching poster making techniques!! We will provide FREE glitter, paints, markers and other dazzling art supplies!

Don't miss this Poster Making Party!!
It is going to be a BLAST!!!

Sign Inspiration for Demonstration!

Get out your poster paints, colored paper and crayons!!

Feel Free to dream up your very own sign slogans or here are some sample slogans that you can use!!

Coney Island = Amusements!!

Size DOES Matter! Say NO to Shrinkage of the Amusement District!!

Dominic Wreck-ia! Please don't wreck Coney Island!!

No Towers in the Amusement District!!

Towers are Terrible for Coney!!

No Compromise!!

Keep Coney Carnie Cool!!

Sell Rides NOT Shoes!!

Please let us know if you have any other sign suggestions that we can share with everyone!!

BRAND NEW Save Coney Island web site!
Coming SOON!!

The Save Coney Island web site will be the worlds premier source for Coney Island Redevelopment news! The launch of the web site will be christened with the release of a "Fight for your Right to Coney" revolutionary anthem recorded by one of Brooklyn's hottest hip hop sensations!! Stay tuned as the juicy details are revealed!!

New Coney Island Coalition Says:
Oppose New Zoning! Save Coney Island!

Save Coney Island Coalition!

Save Coney Island has joined forces with Coney Island USA, The Coney Island History Project, Citylore, the Coney Island Hysterical Society and many other Coney Island Community Groups to form a coalition to oppose the city's new zoning compromise.

The City's new plan almost completely abolishes the amusement industry for the sake of residential condos, hotels and retail.

The Under the new proposal, Coney Island will be overwhelmed by new residential, hotel and retail uses and amusements will be squeezed out!

Coney Island is currently zoned for 61 acres of amusements; the city's new proposal reduces the amount of amusements to 9 acres, supplemented by retail.

This reduction of proposed space for amusements will be unable to create critical mass for the amusement area, defeating the goal of creating a world class amusement and tourist destination.

Crucial Changes Made to
City's Plan to Redevelop Coney Island

As Reported in the New York Times

The City announced major modifications to their plan for the rezoning of Coney Island in an article in today's New York Times

The article states that the open air amusement area in Coney Island will be reduced from 12 acres to 9 acres.

Further concessions in density and usage have been allowed in this area. These concessions will allow developers to build up to 30 stories high. They would also allow hotels and retail within the Amusement District.

The Rezoning of the Amusement District

When the CIDC released their strategic plan in 2005 (shown above), the area between the boardwalk and surf was defined as the Amusement District. This area is currently zoned C7. The C7 zoning allows only open air amusement development. Initially, it was proposed that this C7 zoning should be updated, but that this area would still be preserved as an Amusement District.

In October of 2007 the City released their Zoning Framework. They proposed that the Amusement District, shown in green on the above map, would be declared Parkland. This would protect the district and ensure that it would remain an Amusement Park for centuries to come.

This area of the Amusement District was reduced from what was initially proposed in the 2005 Strategic Plan. This concession was made in exchange for protecting a large portion of the Amusement District in perpetuity.

The City's proposal required the public acquisition of property from the current land owners, which include Thor Equities and the Vourderis Family. Since the announcement of the Zoning Framework, the City has been in negotiations with them.

Judging from the modifications announced by the New York Times, it would appear that the City has compromised it's commitment to the preservation of the Amusement District in order to accommodate the demands of Thor Equities.

The above map illustrates Thor Equities Proposal which reduces the amusement area from 12 acres (as proposed in the Zoning Framework) to 6.5 acres.

The City has not formerly announced their revised Zoning Framework. This Proposal will still have to go through a public process before it can be implemented and development can begin.

We are meeting with the City on Monday to discuss these and any additional modifications to the Rezoning Plan. We will provide a more complete analysis of these changes and statement once we have reviewed the actual plan.

Save Coney Island will ROCK you!!

Submissions Requested for Save Coney Island Music Sampler CD!

Save Coney Island is looking for and eclectic array of bands and musicians to feature on our Save Coney Island Music Sampler CD which will be given away, for FREE in Coney Island and all over New York City!

Our goal for the Save Coney Island Sampler CD is to aurally convey the Spirit of Coney Island through the music of artists who have been inspired by Coney Island. In doing so, we hope to spread and perpetuate the magical essence of the Spirit of Coney Island.

The music submitted does not have to be directly about Coney Island but the song should embody the Spirit of Coney Island in some way!

If you are a band or musician and would like to contribute a song to the Save Coney Island Sampler CD, please send an MP3 or a link to the song to [email protected]. For more details or if you are an establishment that would like to distribute this free CD please contact [email protected].

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Marcowitz opening Save Coney Island Benefit

Please send your benefit photos to [email protected]!!

Thank you for making our
Save Coney Island Benefit
A Wildly Successful Night!!

Saturday, March 8th, 8PM- 2AM at Southpaw!!

A Thrill Ride of an Event to Save Coney Island!!

On Saturday, March 8, 2008 the Save Coney Island organization joined forces with Miss Cyclone, Angie Pontani, Dianna Carlin of Lola Staar and Jen Gapay of Thirsty Girl Productions to stage a tilta-whirling event to promote awareness about the redevelopment of Coney Island. The event took place at Brooklynâ€™s premiere live music venue, Southpaw,

Legendary acts took the stage including, Murray Hill, The World Famous Pontani Sisters, Scotty The Blue Bunny, Kilsy, Little Brooklyn, Miss Astrid, Bambi, The Mermaid Queen of Coney Island, The Fisherman Xylophonic Orchestra and dozens more!

Movies:

HISTORY OF THE REDEVELOPMENT
2003-NOW
THE CONEY ISLAND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
The Coney Island Development Corporation is a city organization formed in September 2003. The CIDC is "charged with spearheading and implementing" a comprehensive plan for the redevelopment of Coney Island.
THE CIDC's STRATEGIC PLAN- INTRODUCED IN 2005
http://www.thecidc.org/
Their plan states that the goals of the redevelopment will be
1) to make Coney Island into a year-round destination
2) to enhance the amusement area and seaside attractions in Coney
3) to cultivate a vibrant neighborhood which creates opportunities for everyone
THE REACTION TO THEIR PLAN
Most of the community in Coney Island had a cautiously positive reaction to their plan. The community's main concern was for Coney Island to remain an Amusement Park. One controversial aspect of the CIDC plan was that it did introduce residential housing on the north side of Surf Avenue. This area is currently zoned for amusements. One positive aspect of their plan was that it did propose to preserve and improve the Amusement Area (Keyspan to West 10th Street, Surf Ave to Boardwalk).
MEANWHILE......
The CIDC's strategic plan was created to recruit developers and to serve as a guideline to what they would be able to build there. However, while the CIDC was developing their plan, a developer was buying up all of the property in Coney Island. Thor Equities began buying land in Coney Island in the winter of 2005. By the fall of 2006, after the purchase of the Astroland Amusement Park, they had obtained almost all of the property in Coney Island.
Thor Equities had other ideas about how they wanted to develop Coney Island. These ideas differed in crucial ways from the CIDC's plan.
THE THOR PROPAGANDA
In the fall of 2005, Thor began to bombard the media with imagery of what their Coney Island Development might look like.
These images were full of elusive Photoshopped imagery that were empty of any real content. These images were intended to make the public believe that Thor Equities had amazing plans for Coney Isalnd up their sleeve. However, it was still very unclear what their real intentions for Coney Isalnd were.
THOR'S INTENTIONS ARE REVEALED
After two years of trying to fool the public into thinking they were going to build an amusement park, they finally revealed what everyone had begun to suspect. That their real plan was to build luxury, high-rise Condos in the heart of the Amusement District. Thor publicly admitted that Amusements are not profitable. That the only way they could proceed with their project was for the city to grant them the rezoning needed to build high-rise condos on the boardwalk. But the CIDC valiantly stood behind their plan and refused to do so.
"IF WE DON'T GET OUR ZONING WE WILL DESTROY CONEY ISLAND"
image courtesy of http://kineticcarnival.blogspot.com/
And so Thor Equities began to demolish Coney Island. Everyday their bulldozers demolish more of Coney Isalnd. The batting cages, the miniature golf course, the go carts, the bumper boats have all been demolished. It looks like a wasteland. A war zone.
SILENCING THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
Thor Equities forced almost all of the businesses in Coney Island to sign a Confidentiality Clause. This Clause prohibits all public comments about the redevelopment of Coney Island, not only for the term of the lease, but for three years after its termination. Violation of this Clause results in immediate eviction and a $10,000 fine for each instance of a violation. By demanding that all of the Coney Island businesses sign this Agreement, they are attempting to silence the entire business community in Coney Island. This Clause will prevents all of the businesses from participating in the public hearings that ultimately will determine its rezoning and it's future.
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