Community Concerns About Marty's Coney Concert Space

The Brooklyn Eagle and the Brooklyn Paper are both reporting that plans for a $64 million outdoor covered concert arena in Coney Island, long a pet project of Borough President Marty Markowitz, is encountering opposition from locals who object to its location in a residential area and those who feel that the money would be better spent on schools and library; the arena as planned (small rendering) would have 5,000 covered seats and room for another 3,000 people on the lawn and be located on the site of the current Asser Levy Park (shown at top). Marty wants Brooklyn to be able to compete with the likes of Jones Beach, Asbury Park and the PNC Center in Newark in New Jersey for national acts. “This is going to destroy the only open space in the neighborhood,” said Ida Sanoff, a former member of Community Board 13. Au contraire, says Marty: “The Coney Island Center will be a much-needed community resource, and will bring to Coney Island the kind of state-of-the-art performance facility Brooklyn deserves.” The anti-amphitheatre crowd is coalescing around a non-profit group called NYC Park Advocates. Community Board 13 will consider the matter at some point in the next two months.
$64 Million Question: New Seaside Park Amphitheater [Brooklyn Eagle]
Coney Residents: Asser Levy Us Alone! [Brooklyn Paper]
Coney Is ‘Jonesing’ for Concerts [Brooklyn Paper]
Photo by Kathryn Kirk for Brooklyn Paper; rendering from Grimshaw Associates.

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Go Marty! After seeing a baseball game at the Cyclones stadium as the sun went down, I remember thinking what an awesome concert venue the area would make. Hopefully a lack of NIMBY's in the immediate vacinity might actually allow this to get done?

Posted by: martis at January 26, 2009 11:31 AM

Given that Asser Levy Park is directly across the street from the boardwalk and beach, the opposition claim that "This is going to destroy the only open space in the neighborhood” is a little hard to take.

Still, with no offstreet parking, and residences right across the street, this is not a good place for a summer-long concert series. Putting this somewhere on the south side of Surf Avenue, and a little further west, would make a lot more sense.

Posted by: Sparafucile at January 26, 2009 11:58 AM

As a teacher who teaches in the school across the street from this space, in a building which is totally decrepit with little to no supplies... yeah, this money could be used better a MILLION different ways.

Posted by: winterhill at January 26, 2009 1:00 PM

Current issue of City Hall News:
Markowitz's "...capital expenditures have been decidedly small-bore. Unlike Adolfo Carrión in the Bronx, who directed much of his capital money toward creating affordable housing, Markowitz has spent less than $9.5 million over seven years on this construction, lacking any identifiable emphasis toward this or anything else for his capital investments. In disbursements rarely higher than $1 million and generally much less, Markowitz has spread the money around to things like adding street planters and buying new equipment for community centers."

Today's Brooklyn Daily Eagle:
"Funds come from $54 million in the Borough President Office’s capital and $10 million from the Mayor’s Office secured by Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr. The original cost was $35 million."

Not to mention the incredible self-serving aspect of this.

Posted by: altervoce at January 26, 2009 1:02 PM

$64 million for a bandshell? seriously?

Posted by: NsPx at January 26, 2009 1:25 PM

this is a joke. i have lived in the area for over 20 years and we do not need a place like this in this location. there is plenty of land to the west on the south side of surf ave that can be used for concerts. they should spend a fraction of the 64 mil and improve the park for kids. maybe a soccer field or baseball and swings. i am pro development when its done right but this is wrong. also there is no parking in this area as is you have to wait for a long time to get a parking spot and in the summer when people want to park at the aquarium its a nightmare.

Posted by: Local Broker at January 26, 2009 1:37 PM

Anyone who knows marty knows it all about appearances, not substance. Yes, lets spend 64 million on a concert banshell- what abysmal stupidity. Does he read newspapers these days?

Posted by: bxgrl at January 26, 2009 4:55 PM

There is a gigantic beach ACROSS THE STREET, there is plenty of open space.

Bunch of retards live in Brooklyn, seriously.

Posted by: Xander Crews at January 26, 2009 5:00 PM

I went to Coney last summer for one final trip, and there was some Russian sounding metal band performing at the current stage.

There were more people on stage than in the crowd and the noise could be heard all the way to Nathans.

Oh, and why can't acts play at the stadium? Bands used to play Shea and Yankee stadium all the time.

The real question is who is this 64M helping besides Marty's buddies in the construction industry?

Posted by: Knickerbocker at January 26, 2009 5:20 PM

Knickerbocker.. I totally saw that band.
They were called, "Fuck you yankee blue jeans" or something like that. Their big hit was "Bezerker"

Posted by: Xander Crews at January 26, 2009 5:23 PM

We could not spend one red cent and let it rot some more instead of turning this into the destination it should be. Someone wants to turn a crummy bandshell into a state of the art facility good enough for a philharmonic and you complain. What a bunch of whankers we got here.

Posted by: ou812 at January 26, 2009 6:22 PM

Fat-Marty should build a hot dog factory at the site with this money and call it "Marty's Place", then he could hang out there and chat with constituents while he engaged in his favorite past-time.

Posted by: Sangria at January 26, 2009 8:27 PM

Open Space of sand and Boardwalk is not the same thing as open space of grassland. You cannot play soccer in the sand. You cannot walk your dog or picnic on the ground the same way.

In terms of actual land it is the only open space in the neighborhood. I'm sorry to burst your bubbles.

Posted by: BayGull at January 30, 2009 9:17 PM

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January 26, 2009

Community Concerns About Marty's Coney Concert Space

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