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Posted on the Coney Island USA bulletin board by poster Switchback, this comic depicts what seems to be Joespeh Sitt as a master of deception.
Follow the discusion at the CIUSA board.
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The virtual tour presentation by Chris Durmick of Thinkwell Design & Production for the new Coney amusement district received a good round of applause at its conclusion. A grinning Joe seemed tickled and pleased by the response to Thinkwell's designs. The presentation took us through many renderings and video clips of some of the new rides in action. At one of the forefronts, would be an emporium which will house a museum of Coney Island which will actually be a dark ride through the history of Coney Island. The emporium will be a greeting station and pit stop for all your needs from digital media gear and supplies, tickets to shows, strollers, etc. Down Stillwell Avenue will stand high, the Freakenspiele Tower (or Freak & Spiel) which pays homage to the Dreamland tower. The Freakenspiele will be a ride, launching passengers into the air at rocket speeds. Along Stillwell will be added attractions like stunt shows, street performers, and the indoor water park which seem to be a major staple in their plans.
More drawings were displayed for the Bowery, plus upscale bowling, adult arcades, freak shows taking their acts out on the streets, and a virtual funhouse with a mirror maze and a three-floor high slide. Plenty of the new and old mixed together. One upgraded old ride would be the new Steeplechase ride which will be a morph between the Steeplechase horses and motorcylces. This would be a faster speed Steeplechase which would at one point go through the water park and then hover high over visitors.
As if it needs reminding...
Yesterday at the Thor Equities lot where they've been setting up the water slide, new colorful "Future Of Coney Island" Thor banners were being installed in time for the Mermaid Parade. And the water slide which was still deflated was surrounded by white chairs for spectators of the water slide's slippery madness to come. Though the attraction may or may not be operating by this weekend, it will surely advertise itself for the crowds spilling over Coney Island this Saturday and inviting them to come back for it.
Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr. (D-Brooklyn) brokered a deal to keep the rides in business in 2008, sources close to the deal said....
....Albert and Thor will be working out the details of the extension in the
days ahead, including compensation to Thor for allowing Astroland to use the site next year.
Image by lornagrl (Flickr.com) 
The New Coney tattoo brew has launched a new website to arouse your liquid curiosities. While you're at it; amaze your oral sensibilities and indulge your inner beer freak.The new Coney Island Lager.
Get your Freak Gear on!
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(click image to enlarge)The new proposal is less dense, he [Sitt] said, but has more of "the new, the edgy, and the outlandish" rides and attractions that America's first resort was once known for.
"This is our way of showing the New York community that we're responsive to what they want," said Sitt, the founder and chief executive of Thor Equities.
The new plan keeps the concept of a new glass-enclosed water park, but instead of apartments call for three hotels, including more than 400 time-share units, along with restaurants, shops, movie theaters and high-tech arcades. The latest renderings depict a pulsating entertainment complex with an Elephant Colossus statue and architecture that evokes the old Luna Park and Dreamland amusement parks.
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But now new questions surface. Why time-shares? Isn’t that similar to condos. They’re still residential. And if you are still shrinking the amusement zone in the footprint to allow for these buildings then why have the hotels in the first place? Let alone three? By the drawings one can guess that guests can cover the amusements in one day. And another day if they want to stay at the beach on another day. At least one hotel may be feasible if any. Which should include a convention center on one of the floors and perhaps a rotating hotel on the top floor. Unless the explain this need, three hotels seem a quite ridiculous.
Let’s hope the good news of ‘no more residential component in Coney Island’s amusement district’ doesn’t turn to be a “wolf dressed up as a sheep” as quoted by Lieber to this new plan.
And Taconic Investment Partners will speak for themselves but let’s also hope that Taconic’s building’s don’t look like what’s presenting in this new sketch – which look’s the same as the hotels; Trump-style cookie cutouts. Coney deserves imagination. This is Coney Island not the East Village. And last but definitely not least, the NY Times article stated that not everyone trusts Mr. Sitt to deliver and are concerned with this being a new tactic to influence the change in zoning to their favor only to flip the property. Let's hope Joey Coney is genuine about his love for Coney Island and is still treading the waters to see where it's possible to make a profit while still respecting Coney's historic and future amusements.
Coney I. Plan Is Scaled Back, but Critics Are Skeptical [The New York Times]
This is super exciting news for Coney Island. Now we are all anxious to see what new preliminary plans and designs Thor Equities will release.After listening to the comments, questions and concerns of members of the Coney Island community, as well as people all over the country and throughout the world, Thor Equities has completely eliminated the residential component of its proposed plan. Thor will instead focus on amusement and entertainment uses worthy of Coney Island's spectacular legacy. Thor now has a plan that is compatible with the City's strategic plan and looks forward to working with the community and the City to return Coney Island to its former glory.
-Tom Corsillo Spokesman, Thor Equities
On America Online's favorite eight top vacation spots for great food is Nathan's Famous in Coney Island. The "Summertime and the Eatin’s Easy" article by Samantha Chapnick for America Online's AOL Travel gives a couple of interesting trivia tidbits about Nathan's.Nathan’s, Coney Island
If the “1 Million Sold” sign existed in 1948, it would’ve been found over the golden sands, not the golden arches. Well before Roy Kroc was eating solid food, Nathan’s was selling fast food hot dogs and Coke to Coney Island visitors. Now that people just need to visit their local mall or airport to taste those crinkle-fries, we’ll use lure you to this original locale using trivia.
• On July 4, 1916 four immigrants decided to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic by seeing who could eat the most hot dogs and thus the annual Hot Dog eating contest was born. PS the Irish Immigrant won.
• Nathan started his stand by borrowing $300 from Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante, friends who had worked with him at Feltman’s and urged him to strike out on his own.
• Archie Leach remained close to his good friend with Nathan even after he changed his name to Cary Grant and won a zillion awards.
The New York Aquarium celebrates its 50th birthday with a slew of festivities from hula hoops and sock hops to celebrity impersonators. Including 50's music by DJ Mike C and stilt walkers and much much more!
Brooklyn’s real estate market is booming. The City’s Department of Buildings issued 1,740 new building permits in Brooklyn in 2005, amounting to four new building permits per day. In that same period, the department issued 1,924 permits for demolition, or five demolition permits per day. And the city is rezoning to make way for residential development without adequately planning for the preservation of Brooklyn’s industrial heritage.
Parts of New York City's fabled waterfront are disappearing faster than the Brooklyn accent of "dese, dem, and dose."
The workshop will be a study of contrasts of Coney Island and of Brooklyn. Students will be documenting the changing conditions of light and weather, interacting with the environment and architecture of Coney Island. The natural elements and all of the remaining details tell the story of its historic beginnings as the people’s playground to the present. We will be working in both daylight and nighttime photography, catching the entire experience that is Coney Island.
Happy News: Now You Can Get Tanked on Coney Island Lager! [The Gowanus Lounge]
With zeal and boastfulness on his many musings along the boardwalk, to visits with his friends and desires for Coney Island, Thor Equities’ Joe Sitt feels like the real thing. “You know? We’re the real thing? Anything else is a knockoff of this.” Joe Sitt told Larry McShane of the Associated Press.On a weekday morning, Sitt, in a dark blue pinstriped suit, lighter blue shirt and striped tie, appears incongruous with the local environment, strolling up Stillwell Avenue toward the beach. But it soon becomes clear that he’s equally at home on the boardwalk as in the boardroom.Mr. Sitt having been able to decipher foreigners may be one thing but if it was due to their picture taking – it makes it seem that Joey Coney as he’s been called, is not completely aware that tourists and even local New Yorkers have always had a passion for Coney’s alluring aesthetics and still are constantly taking pictures of everything in sight.
"Yeah, OK, it’s a little bit grimy, etcetera,” says Sitt, his voice rising with an enthusiasm belying his surroundings. “But it’s got so much potential, calling out for someone to do something. I want to bring it back."
Sitt conjures something even more breathtaking, more bombastic, more Brooklyn: A year-round resort unlike anything previously seen in his native borough.
Back on the boardwalk, Sitt discusses Coney Island’s worldwide cachet. His office has recently fielded calls from Italy, England, Singapore and Israel about the project. Sitt pauses as he spots four people meandering along the boardwalk, one snapping pictures of everything in sight.
“C’mon”, he says confidently,. “They’ve got to be from out of the country”.
They are, Stuttgart, Germany, to be precise. “In the movies, we saw it,” one woman replies when Sitt asks how they knew about Coney Island. They chat amiably before Sitt says goodbye in their native tongue. “Auf wiedersehen.”
Calling all GUYS and DOLLS! Strike a pose and revolutionize yourself. Save Coney Island is looking for dancers of all types and all levels. In fact even if you can't dance at all you'll still feel like a shining star. So come out and be a Save Coney Island Revolutionary Mermaid Go Go Dancer in the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island on June 23rd!!!
After joining the ensemble all you'll need is to attend two super fun rehearsals with performer and dance teacher Angie Potani.
Everyone is welcomed! For more information visit:
Save Coney Island Website
