The appetizer is here, and the main course is still to come.
Minor work has begun on the controversial project to transform the historic Childs Restaurant in Coney island into an amphitheater, locals say.
“It looks like they’re clearing out the inside, maybe asbestos or something,” said Michael Quinn, who first reported the work on theconeyislandblog.com. “They’re filling gigantic bags like you’d put your laundry in.”
Contractors also knocked down a small portion of the western parapet, he said.
The construction is the first step in former borough president Marty Markowitz’s long-running passion project to build a 5,000 seat home for his summer concert series in Coney Island. The ex-beep first wanted to plant a performing space in Asser Levy Park, but he backed off in the face of community opposition, instead identifying the 90-year-old, boardwalk-adjacent Childs Restaurant building as his desired location in his 2013 State of the Borough address.
The move mollified some critics, but other locals still balked at the notion, charging that a venue would bring undue commotion in the form of traffic and noise to Sodom by the Sea.
Then community gardeners sued the city for booting them from a city-owned parcel adjacent to the restaurant where developers plan to build outdoor seating and a sprawling lawn.
Real estate firm iStar Financial owns the restaurant building, which was constructed in 1923 and landmarked in 2002. The city is expected to pay iStar $53 million for the building, then lease it back to the developers until 2025.
The deal does not yet appear to have been finalized, and there is no record of a sale on the city’s registry. The company has already filed for construction permits, but the city has yet to approve them, according to Department of Buildings documents.
An executive from iStar Financial declined to comment for this story.
The project is slated for completion this summer.
