Being elected to represent Coney Island is an incredible honor and fighting for fairness and equity in the outer-outer boroughs is as much a privilege as it is an obligation.
Coney Island is one of the most legendary neighborhoods in the entire world, attracting visitors from across the globe. But it’s the hardworking people and families who live here all year round that make Coney Island truly special.
Indeed, this neighborhood is held together by dedicated residents and small, family-run businesses, which our city government has too often forgotten in favor of the seasonal tourists. We have been proud to help deliver deep investments into Coney Island as a residential, working class community, and not just as America’s playground. Over the last two years, we secured tens of millions of dollars for our neighborhood parks, playgrounds, schools, nonprofit organizations, and other public spaces, and you’re going to start seeing work begin on these historic improvements in the coming months. Plus, working with City Hall, we were able to secure a historic $1 billion commitment towards the complete and total rehabilitation of the historic but crumbling 2.7-mile-long Riegelmann Boardwalk. And we didn’t need a casino to get any of this stuff done.
As 2025 comes to a close, before you turn over your calendars, we have one more piece of good news to share. We’re not making these investments in a vacuum. We understand that our historic public investments in everything from housing to infrastructure will require daily stewardship of and care for our community. A sad history of government negligence in Coney Island can’t be reversed in just two years. If we truly want to build on our momentum and keep our community moving forward, what we really need is a stable organization with the resources to support our local economy, safeguard the things that make our streets special, and actually make a difference. That’s exactly what we’ve secured by establishing the new Coney Island Business Improvement District.
In the last 40 years, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have served to revitalize commercial areas across New York City, breathing new life into neighborhoods, and transforming once-neglected corridors into vibrant hubs of commerce and culture. Small business enclaves across our borough, from Brooklyn Heights to Bay Ridge, already benefit tremendously from BIDs. Wide ranging services most BIDs provide include public beautification, supplemental sanitation, private security, seasonal events and outdoor decoration, and more. We are both former small business owners and we have seen firsthand how BIDs along other commercial corridors in our district directly result in safer, cleaner streets, enhance and safeguard local traditions, and bolster the collaborative sense of community at the heart of every great neighborhood.
In Coney Island, we’re used to having to go to bat for basic services the rest of the city takes for granted. Our brand new BID will change the game. Sick of litter on Mermaid Avenue? The BID can and will will provide regular supplemental sanitation services above and beyond what the mighty DSNY provides, including sidewalk sweeping, power washing, and graffiti removal.
And what about our local businesses? The Coney Island BID will be laser focused on giving our small businesses a fighting chance. Whether it’s marketing support, bulk-buying power to save on essentials, or advocacy at City Hall to combat policies that are detrimental to business, a BID can give our local entrepreneurs the tools they need to thrive. BIDs also help building owners avoid fines and keep their properties profitable.
Coney Island is long overdue for an influx of the kinds of local businesses that residents need. Studies consistently show our neighbors are leaving the neighborhood to shop and go out elsewhere—and who can blame them? Banks, supermarkets, pharmacies, and other stores providing essential everyday needs are few and far between on the peninsula. We all want that to change. The Coney Island BID can be our brand new vehicle for attracting, negotiating with, and retaining the businesses we need for our community to thrive.
We wouldn’t have pushed to establish a BID if we didn’t believe it was right for Coney Island. But we have seen how thoughtfully created and well-run BIDs elsewhere in our district and across the city have neither dominated nor displaced but rather uplifted their communities. With governance elected by and composed of residents and property owners as well as business owners, the best BIDs work hard to bring us all together. While we’re out there fighting tirelessly every day at City Hall to bring more resources to our beloved neighborhood, the BID creates an opportunity for the people of Coney Island to take action and invest in themselves, by participating in a stable, self-governed organization that has the resources to actually make a difference.
Coney Island is everything people imagine—a magical little beach town with a roller coaster and Ferris wheel dropped into the middle of it, welcoming five million visitors a year. But beyond the bright lights, from Stillwell Avenue to Sea Gate, our responsibility is to fight for the people who call the peninsula home all year long.
With the future of our neighborhood on the line, together we have taken a tremendous step forwards toward turning things around and really making a difference in the conditions of our neighborhood. Just like savvy business and property owners who know that it takes money to make money, our community is doubling down: Coney Island is special, and we’re taking matters into our own hands to keep it that way.
Council Member Justin Brannan represents Coney Island in the City Council. Council Member-elect Kayla Santosuosso takes over January 1. They are both former small business owners.
