Thor's Big-Box Dreams for Coney Island
Critics of Thor Equities’ efforts to boost the maximum retail size limit for the new Coney Island zoning from 2,500 square feet to 10,000 square feet have long feared that the developer wants to turn the historic amusements area into another charmless strip mall. They appear to have had it right: According to a pitch…
Critics of Thor Equities’ efforts to boost the maximum retail size limit for the new Coney Island zoning from 2,500 square feet to 10,000 square feet have long feared that the developer wants to turn the historic amusements area into another charmless strip mall. They appear to have had it right: According to a pitch book that a tipster tells us was used to (unsuccessfully) lobby Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the kind of tenants Thor is dreaming about for Coney include such charming mom-and-pops as Toys R Us, Bass Pro Shops and the Hard Rock Cafe. Gag us with a spoon! The pitch also included a push to prevent the extension of Bowery Street between Jones Walk and West 10th Street because it would “eliminate the opportunity to provide a main attraction or destination.”
Cozy in Coney: Sitt and Recchia [Brownstoner]
City Makes Sitt an Offer He Can Refuse [Brownstoner]
“The area desperately needs an infusion of cash. And unlike AY, this appears to be a viable plan.” bupe
Infusion of cash? Not likely. Every plan that this Thor Equities has ever submitted for anything calls for someone else to pay for construction and once complete for others to pay for and bring in the attractions and stores. All Thor Equities would do is provide the land and collect outrageous rents. But when has Thor Equities ever carried out one of their plans? Once the city gives them the zoning and property they are asking for they are going to sell it to Taconic. Taconic is going to build condos and no stores. The city would love it because they would get to collect property taxes, but the local community would see none of this money and would lose those tourist dollars.
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“Many people are very nostalgic about Coney Island – but when was the last time anybody went there beside the Mermaid parade?” bupe
When was the last time you trekked 10 miles or more out of your way to go to mall stores? What is the logic of replacing something people still go to with something people are no longer going to? According to Businessweek malls and box stores are in decline. Look at all the malls in this city that are in trouble and are closing. Even Thor Equities closed their Fulton Street Gallery Mall because they said it was not making any money. OTOH amusement parks have seen record crowds in the past five years. And that includes Coney Island.
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“Whatever happened to the Danish people that were going to an amusement area ala Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen?” Beau Guest
City Councilman Dominic Recchia and Senator Carl Kruger who from the beginning backed Thor Equities took legal steps to prevent Tivoli from building in New York. Remember that next time they are up for re-election
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“Once those luxury condos go up, you’ll get those who feel entitled to the beach and complaining bout the “riff-raff” that go their. Then they’ll start yapping about how they must protect their investments and how to privatize the beach. It’s happened before.” bxgrl
If you look at the original plan that Thor Equities submitted it showed a map where the boundaries of their resort extended out over the beach. They knew all along that there is no real way they could build billion dollar condos and luxury hotels unless they had the beach in front privatized. Not that it would matter because one that property falls under a single owner then they could cut off beach access even if it remains public.
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“Perhaps it’s because Mr. Sitt OWNS the land, after paying for it with his own money????” benson
Dont forget to mention that the former owners were pressured by Bloomberg to sell their property to Sitt back when he was claiming all he wanted to do was build an amusement park. And he did not pay for it with his own money. He paid for it with bank loans he wants the city to subsidize. Those banks must be pissed because he told them the property would be rezoned to allow condos. Now he can’t pay them back.
“A startling lack of vision” is right!! There is so much potential here, it’s astonishing that a viable entertainment & amusement venue can’t be (re)created. A while back, I seem to recall that someone, either on this site or perhaps another, in discussing the redevelopment (or lack thereof) of Coney, suggested rebuilding a modern-day version of Luna Park & Dreamland…rides, attractions, food, (and ok, a little shopping too). There is so much that can be done to bring in not only tourists, but attract and benefit residents of Coney and the entire city, and generating millions upon millions of revenue to boot. I also agree that the Coney beachfront and the expanse of the ocean are extraordinary. I remember going to the beach there (Bay 10) every summer while growing up in the late 50s-60s. It WAS a destination for generations…the Parachute Jump, the Steeplechase, merry-go-rounds, roller coasters, ferris wheels, food (read franks and fresh clams and clam chowder with Oysterettes from Nathan’s; salty crinkle french fries with ketchup and corn on the cob dripping in butter and cotton candy from all the boardwalk food vendors)…plus the aquarium, plus the fireworks displays every Tuesday night at 9:00 pm. Because my parents were not wealthy, Coney was our “summer vacation” every year, and we loved it. Rainy days were the worst thing that could happen to us kids! A few cents on the subway (back then), and less than a half-hour from CG you were transported to a completely different world from the city…blue sky, clean salt air, the never-ending ocean. Coney Island CAN be a major destination once more, if only inspiration and creative vision could replace greed.
You’re absolutely right Benson–this is precisely why we have Eminent Domain! We have to save Mr. Sitt from himself–He’s making a terrible mistake. If they go ahead with this, there will soon be the shell of a ravaged Bass Pro Shops store within a year. Right next to the spot where the Rainforest Cafe lasted for exactly 9 months before closing in the hail of negative publicity following the “regrettable incident with the rat”. Right past the cavernous space that housed the world’s only Toys R Us that you had to pass through metal detectors to enter…
Granted, this epic failure could restore some of the grit we used to love about Coney Island. OK–I’ve changed my mind. Build away, oh Mighty Thor!
You’re absolutely right Benson–this is precisely why we have Eminent Domain! We have to save Mr. Sitt from himself–He’s making a terrible mistake. If they go ahead with this, there will soon be the shell of a ravaged Bass Pro Shops store within a year. Right next to the spot where the Rainforest Cafe lasted for exactly 9 months before closing in the hail of negative publicity following the “regrettable incident with the rat”. Right past the cavernous space that housed the world’s only Toys R Us that you had to pass through metal detectors to enter…
Granted, this epic failure could restore some of the grit we used to love about Coney Island. OK–I’ve changed my mind. Build away, oh Mighty Thor!
“yet the city is totally willing to let a private developer turn it into a mall”
Perhaps it’s because Mr. Sitt OWNS the land, after paying for it with his own money????
It’s so ironic that Coney Island is still used in so many NYC marketing and advertising materials as an icon, yet the city is totally willing to let a private developer turn it into a mall. Has anyone been to South Street Seaport in the past 5 years? It’s a mall on the waterfront, filled with tourists from Minnesota who want the same stuff they have in Minnesota.
And building luxury condos doesn’t make sense either. Who is going to pay millions for a condo when it takes 1+hour to get to mid-town from here? And Coney Island is not nice enough to be a real beach destination like the Hamptons.
It seemed like Coney was undergoing a real resurgence in the past few years – small businesses finding their feet and adding to the eclectic mix that Coney should have. I hate the fact that all over the city, big developers who have deep pockets can take over large swathes of property and radically change a neighborhood. Why can’t the city help support organic growth of small businesses that in the long run employ more people?
This might be a little besides the malling of Coney point, but why is there an image of Amoeba music on that power point slide along with the the Hard Rock and that creepy Shreck video billboard? Amoeba is a tiny (3 store) independent music retailer from California. They are not exactly the kind of mega retailer that this seems to be objecting to.
You got it, Schultz. Though they do babysit sometimes…
But their food is terrible, and Hard Rock would be an overpriced alternative to the mayo-based Russian cuisine (by the way, Brighton Beach itself – now THAT is a destination).
For me, Coney Island used to be a destination. A place I would always take out-of-town visitors in the summer specifically because it was like absolutely nothing else in the country and like nothing they’d ever seen before. And even at its grittiest and shabbiest, my friends and I would invariably have a great time and they would want to go back when they visited again. Even the old Mad Max aesthetic where if a ride broke down, they would build a fence around it and leave it rust was funky and photogenic. I will miss that Coney Island, but it’s clear its time had come. But big-box theme stores? Jeez–that is precisely what you can find every other place in this country. In all the city, they couldn’t come up with ONE plan that made something new here but was so unique that it would draw visitors from all over the country specifically to see and experience it? Bass Pro Shops? Give me a break. Hard Rock Cafe? That stopped being remotely interesting about the time that they opened the 235th Hard Rock Cafe in Indianapolis (apologies to Indianapolis–but even Indy residents know what I’m getting at here). This represents a startling lack of vision. The are very few American cities that have oceanfront tracts like this. That alone should make this site special. Maybe I’m wrong–maybe tourists will flock to Brooklyn to see America’s only oceanfront shopping mall–great views of the surf from the Food Court!