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The changing face of Coney Island
Amusement seekers mill about at Coney Island.
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Stacey Vanek-Smith: And if a house in the Hamptons is a bit out of your reach, you can always go to Coney Island. Eat a hot dog, ride the Cyclone. A hundred years ago, Coney Island was a place to see and be seen. It still draws a crowd, but its glory days are over. The amusement park has gone downhill a bit. But now, there's a multibillion-dollar plan to revitalize Coney Island, as Jill Barshay reports.
Jill Barshay: Dick Zigun personifies Coney Island. The gray-haired 55-year-old has tattoos running up and down both arms. He runs the museum, the annual Mermaid parade, and the burlesque show.
Zigun was a director on the redevelopment board. But he quit a few weeks ago in disgust.
Dick Zigun: The current plan disrespects the history here. You know, he amusement industry was born here. Coney island is the place where the hot dog was invented, soft ice cream, the roller coaster -- it all comes from here.
Zigun's leading protests over City's move to slash the area designated for amusement rides by nearly half.
Domenic Recchia represents Coney Island on the New York City Council. He says the renewal plan needs to be redrawn to create jobs in his depressed South Brooklyn neighborhood.
Domenic Recchia: We want an all-year round destination and amusement parks today just don't make money.
The disputed land was recently bought up by a real estate developer called Thor Equities. Right now, the land is zoned for amusement rides only, but Thor wants to change that so it can build hotels, a movie theater, a bowling alley and a Niketown store.
Margaret Tobin is an executive vice president at Thor Equities. She says her company wants to attract visitors of all ages.
Margaret Tobin: We really, truly believe that retail is one of the important mixes there. I know from my nieces, shopping for them is entertainment, and it is amusing.
Tobin worries about relying on tourists exclusively. Building movie theaters and hotel ballrooms to serve locals in South Brooklyn is less risky.
Coney Island's Zigun says this roller coaster dispute could torpedo the whole revitalization plan.
Zigun: And now they've got everybody yelling and screaming, and I'm not sure anything's going to be passed.
Meanwhile, the last amusement park in Coney Island, Astroland, is slated to close at the end of the 2008 season.
In Coney Island, I'm Jill Barshay for Marketplace.
I think American politicians are stupid or are all pretending to be stupid. Anyone can tell that shopping has nothing to do with amusement parks. That is why they are not in the same place. You have a developer who is making stupid statements and relying on American politicians to be or play stupid. If this developer is allowed to replace the historic Coney island amusement park with a shopping mall because her nieces told her that shopping is entertainment and amusing then I have lost all respect for the United States. Hey, my nephew is a book worm. He thinks that Harry Potter is entertainment and amusing. Maybe that is a good excuse to replace the amusement parks at Coney island with a nice quiet library?
Margaret Tobin, are you kidding me? Ask any kid or teen leaving in the real world if they'd rather go on rides or shop and they'll tell you ride. What kind of message are we sending kids these days? Shop compulsively, go into credit card debt, feed your shopping addiction. While we all know that your boss makes you tow the company line how can you possibly say something like this with a straight face. Have you no shame?
Hey Recchia ask Carol Albert of Astroland and Dennis and Steve Vourderis owners of Wonder Wheel Park if amusements make money. They wouldn't operate if they didn't. Recchia is a recipient of financial support from his long time friend Joe Sitt of Thor Equities. He is hardly credible and truth be told should be ashamed of putting financial gain in front of saving an important part of not only New York's history but the worlds.
The implied assertion with reference to being "more like the Japanese" regarding history is a bit misplaced, I think (based on my admittedly small experience with Japanese views on historical items of interest).
I would say our methods for preserving history are different, and often better in my view, than the reconstruction-accepting/expecting approach taken by some other cultures. For CI, I have no idea, but check out some of our other national historical sites to see how we as a culture preserve things. While far from perfect (one cannot please everyone at once), I think we generally do an admirable job. Besides, we're talking about only a century ago; how about a more long term viewpoint?
Recchia says that amusement parks don't make money anymore, and I'd like to point at Disney and the Six Flags companies who are making money hand over fist. And they're doing it with the same things that Coney Island should be filled with - amusements. There is only one Coney Island, and we should focus on what makes it special and different from everything else.
There are TWO amusement parks left on Coney Island, and only Astroland is closing. Deno's WonderWheel Amusement Park, which is wholly owned and privately run by the Vourderis family, is owed a real apology for some destructive fact checking. These people stuck with CI through the dark years, have worked tirelessly to rebuild the boardwalk as a summer destination, and are great people. But then, you could decide for yourselves: check their webiste and then get in touch with Dennis Vourderis. www.wonderwheel.com and Denoswonderwheel@aol.com
