My glass-half-full speculation, it turned out, came to naught: Astroland, the cherished Coney Island amusement park, closed its doors last night for the last time. And before anyone asks: No, the Wonder Wheel (owned by neighboring Deno’s) and Cyclone (owned … Continue reading
Just like last year, Astroland is again weeks away from the end of its season with no lease in place for next summer. Dire headlines to the contrary, though, the fabled Coney Island amusement park may be more likely to … Continue reading
A look ahead to Saturday’s Mermaid Parade, which itself is looking ahead to Tuesday’s public hearing on the future of Coney Island: Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade isn’t usually a place for broad political messages, except when reclaiming pasties as … Continue reading
A brief item on the Voice site on a Coney Island fixture quitting the local development board in protest of the city’s revised plans for redeveloping the famed amusement strip: Six weeks after Mayor Bloomberg abruptly revamped his Coney Island … Continue reading
Another opening day at Coney Island – this time, it was the beach being opened for the summer – and another rainy day. Also this time, protests: Another sign that the weather gods hate Coney Island this year: Rainclouds and … Continue reading
Another not-entirely-accurate headline by the crack editorial team at Metro NY – the issue with Coney Island is that the city is letting developers’ will take precedence over its own, which is symptomatic of a deeper problem: Over the past … Continue reading
The city of New York has revised its ambitious rezoning plan for Coney Island, and some locals are starting to fear that the changes are a sellout to developers: When the city Economic Development Corporation announced last week—via a New … Continue reading
Yesterday was opening day at Coney Island, and so also opening day for my Coney coverage in the Village Voice: When Astroland owner Carol Hill Albert announced last fall that her amusement park would be returning for a 47th season, … Continue reading
My regular Monday op-ed schedule resumes, with a look ahead to tonight’s public meeting on the future of Coney Island that manages to avoid using the term “shell game”: The announcement reads “community information session,” but “Fireworks at Coney Island … Continue reading
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s long-awaited rezoning plan for Coney Island was finally released yesterday. But while most news outlets were distracted by the pretty pictures, they largely missed the bigger story – the city’s plan to use a never-before-tried … Continue reading