Maybe Coney's Not Doing So Well After All

Remember Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s headline grabbing report from earlier this week that Coney Island economy was booming? Yesterday watchdog publication City Limits called b.s. on the claims.

It was an odd moment for anyone who’s actually been to Coney Island lately, since there are few obvious signs of a massive renaissance: Luna Park has effectively replaced the late, lamented Astroland, but at the same time much of the Surf Avenue commercial district has fallen to developer Joe Sitt’s bulldozers, while the much-anticipated construction of condos and mixed-use retail buildings on Coney’s vacant lots — which the city promised would follow its 2009 rezoning — remains vaportecture for now.

Turns out that the headline might have been technically true, but only because it was using 2009 as the comparison year. Versus 2008 and 2007, employment is way down.
Coney Baloney: DiNapoli’s Report Obscures Brooklyn Beachfront’s Rollercoaster Economy [City Limits]