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Joe Sitt, the local boy made good, has Coney Island’s best interests at heart but can’t get the public, or public officials, to believe him. That’s the gist of a profile in yesterday’s Crain’s:

“It’s my passion to make Coney Island better, says the suddenly teary-eyed chief executive of Thor Equities. It is the place where I played hooky and grew up. I want to give back to the neighborhood and to New York City.

Trouble is, many people simply don’t believe him.

To some, he’s the man who wants to turn Coney Island into a soulless mall; to others, he just a savvy negotiator trying to milk the most he can out of the city for his land. To some others though, his heart really is in the right place. He has gotten a bad rap, says Chris Havens, head of Brooklyn-based brokerage Creative Real Estate Group. He wants to build. At this point, though, none of that may matter. With the City Planning Commission having approved the city’s redevelopment plan for Coney Island, it’s all going to come down to the City Council vote. According to Crain’s, Sitt’s childhood buddy, Council Member Recchia, likely has the power to produce a “no” vote from his fellow council members.
Coney Island Keeper [Crain’s]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. I don’t know Coney issue in detail, but i do know Joe Sitt.

    Disney? yuck, expensive European companies doing amusements? check out pricing at Euro Disney on line….

    Big box i agree but limiting stores to 2500sf in crazy, really a mistake.

    I don’t think there should be any resi in amusement area, but you must have resi to subsidize the rest of the development, as well as retail.

    Joe an expert on urban retail. Let him try.

    As to red hook, the ONLY WAY you’ll ever get jobs out there is retail big box. The ONLY Way.
    Theater is fantasy island. No access.

  2. if he really wants to show he wants the best for coney island, he has a few options:

    1. back out and let someone else develop
    2. get an amusement partner (like disney)
    3. come up with a plan that doesnt involve building big box stores

  3. Joe Sitt is not to be taken at face value. I was at the CB6 meeting where he played his humbl Brooklyn boy act and told the Red Hook community he had their best interests at heart and swore he wouldn’t tear down the Revere Sugar factory but instead how he wanted to repurpose it as something creatively interesting like a theater. And then he just went ahead and tore it down with no further thought to the matter so he can site another hideous, pointless mall there. Or worse a Sam’s Club.