Coney Island has faced many of the issues most low-income neighborhoods face. In 2009, one out of every six people in Coney Island lived in housing projects and the unemployment rate was twice that of the rest of New York City (Economist). The community gained a bad reputation for its high crime rates in the Seventies and Eighties as well. One of the main issues with the neighborhood is the focus of attention towards the amusement parks and Surf Avenue rather than the community. What does this mean? It means that developers and the City of New York use their resources to rebuild one profitable space in the area. The people who live there are left to live in poverty with little help from the government. Here are pictures of what you may see at Coney Island:
Coney Island’s housing projects are the result of policies made by City Planner Robert Moses in the 1940s and 1950s. Robert Moses did not like the amusement parks that dominated the area, so he made sure that the city would pressure them to leave. When Luna Park closed down in 1944, Moses had to rebuild a huge chunk of Coney Island that bordered the Boardwalk in the south and Coney Island Creek in the north. Under Title I of the Housing Act of 1949, Robert Moses was finally able to begin construction on housing projects. This construction went well into the 1970s when Mayor John Lindsay was in office. The loss of the amusement parks crippled the economy of the neighborhood for decades. it was at this time that the neighborhood became a haven for criminal activity.
Land owners have become an important factor in the area’s power struggles. The 1970s, for example, had Fred Trump, who wanted to build condominiums at Surf Avenue; however, he never built anything in the area. The 1990s brought about change when a developer became interested in building a minor-league baseball team in the area. Now known as the Brooklyn Cyclones, the new establishment helped pull Coney Island out of economic crisis and at better shape than it had ever been in nearly half a century. One of the problems that hurts the citizens of Coney Island now is that they are not given a strong voice in the changes that occur at their community. The newest land owner in the area is Joseph Sitt, the founder and CEO of Thor Equities, a real-estate developer. The corporation bought approximately $100 million of property along Surf Avenue. He pushed out approximately forty small businesses and amusements to make way for his Coney Island: hotels; condominiums; malls; water parks; amusements; etc (Sargent).
The community did not like Thor Equities’ plans for the neighborhood and protested its actions. Establishments that had been in the area for decades such as Astroland were being closed down. The City of New York got involved in the dispute, but only to propose a new rezoning for the C7 zone in the neighborhood. Community members and amusement park enthusiasts wanted the land along Surf Avenue to remain as amusement area and open for small businesses. The zoning plan, which you can see below, shows the layout that both the City of New York and Thor Equities would eventually agree to:
In 2009, this rezoning plan was accepted by the City Council and the government purchased nearly half of Joseph Sitt’s land for approximately $14 million per acre. The parkland that the community wanted to be maintained was decreased to about ten acres. New attractions and chain restaurants have opened since and the people of Coney Island have not benefited substantially so far. The barriers of entry into opening a business at Coney Island has only increased since the mega-deal Joseph Sitt received from the City of New York. The neighborhood also suffered from massive flood damage after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Coney Island is still trying to get over the millions of dollars of federal and state aid required to rebuild homes and take measures to prevent a future storm from creating as much destruction.
Works Cited
Argano, Sharon. Personal Interview. 20 April 2014
Berger, Joseph. “Coney Island Renewed, but Recognizable”. New York Times. 20 July 2012: Section A; Column O, Metropolitan Desk; pg. 15. Web. 28 April 2014.
Bernstein, Victor H. “A New Coney to Rise: The Moses Plan is Dovetailed into a Vast Programof Waterfront Improvement How Coney Developed Relieving Congestion A “Nickel Jones Beach”. New York Times. 5 December 1937: pg. 227. Web. 6 May 2014.
“Coney Island Comprehensive Rezoning Plan”. NYC Department of City Planning. The City ofNew York, n.d. Web. 10 March 2014.
“History of Luna Park”. Luna Park. CAI Parks LLC, n.d. Web. 28 April 2014.
PBS. “American Experience: Coney Island.” PBS. PBS, 1991. Web. 10 March 2014.
PBS. “Zipper: Coney Island’s Last Wild Ride.” PBS. PBS, 2012. Television.
Shepard, Benjamin. “The Battle of Brooklyn: World City and Space of Neighborhoods”. Theory in Action. April 2013: 15-51. Web. 10 March 2014.
