Residents and fans of Brooklyn’s beloved “People’s Playground” have a new name for their seaside amusement zone — Crony Island.
Neighborhood groups and individuals say Mayor Bloomberg betrayed them when the city reduced the size of a planned city-owned amusement park in order to win over holdout local landowners, principally Joe Sitt of Thor Equities, who do not want to sell their land.
“This is capitulation to Joe Sitt and it won’t wash,” said Dick Zigun, of Coney Island USA, one of the group’s organizing a beachfront protest for May 22 — the start of Memorial Day weekend and beach season.
“T[he city] profess[es] this commitment to preserving the amusement district and, in the end, they completely compromised it,” added Angie Pontani, the reigning Miss Cyclone.
Activists are up in arms that the city now plans to set aside only nine acres of land adjacent to the Boardwalk as an open-air, pay-as-you-go amusement zone, rather than the 15 acres that the mayor proposed in November.
Now, the plan would allow the remaining six acres to be developed for entertainment or retail use controlled by the private landowners, not the city.
City officials say that such an entertainment-retail zone could include an enclosed water park, bowling alley and movie theaters and would turn Coney Island into a year-round destination, rather than a collection of small concessionaires who are only busy between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
“These uses offer an indoor complement to the open-amusement area,” said Department of City Planning spokesperson Rachaele Raynoff.
And those outdoor rides and attractions in the city’s nine-acre park will be safe forever because it will be mapped as parkland, she added.
But the opponents of this idea say it will lead to a Times Square-like mallification of the neighborhood because of the emphasis on shopping.
Indeed, Thor Equities is a well-known developer of shopping malls.
The company, for its part, said it is “cautiously optimistic” about the new proposal and says the criticism is coming from a vocal minority.
“The status quo of seasonal amusements may be fine for a select few, but it’s not fine for a huge majority of Coney Island residents who want, need and deserve good-paying jobs, thriving retail establishments and year-round amusements that will draw needed economic activity 12 months a year,” said Thor spokesman Stefan Friedman.
Critics say people may travel to Coney Island throughout the year if the new term is implemented, but in the process the area will lose its raison d’etre.
“I acknowledge that there needs to be changes for the people and the businesses around there,” said Diana Carlin, of Save Coney Island. “But there’s not enough square footage [in the amusement park area] to have a day at the amusement park.”
The group Save Coney Island will begin its May 22 protest at 9:45 am at the Sideshow (West 12th Street between Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk). A parade and demonstration will follow. Call (718) 372-5159 for info.
