April | 2010 | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for April, 2010

Thor’s Coney Island: Tattered Tents, Deathwatch for Historic Buildings

Posted in Coney Island Redevelopment, Real Estate, tagged Coney Island, flea market, Joe Sitt, Stillwell Avenue, Thor Equities on April 21, 2010| 7 Comments »

Thor Equities abandoned flea market, Coney Island. April 16, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita//me-myself-i via flickr

Thor Equities abandoned flea market tents on Stillwell Ave, Coney Island. April 16, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita//me-myself-i via flickr

If you’ve been wondering what Joe Sitt of Thor Equities is doing with his vacant buildings and empty lots in Coney Island 2010, the answer is nothing yet. It’s disgraceful that Coney Island’s no. 1 real estate speculator is getting away with letting his tents from last year’s flopped Flea by the Sea deteriorate and become a public eyesore. The bedraggled tents are the first sight visitors see when they stroll down Stillwell Avenue, the gateway to Coney Island’s Beach and Boardwalk. How would “Joey Coney Island” like it if this mess was in his backyard instead of the People’s Playground? Tear ‘em down!

Thor Equities abandoned flea market tent, Coney Island. April 19, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Coney Island’s 40 rides and diverse attractions opened for the season on Palm Sunday and enjoyed the best Easter in decades. On the City-owned former Astroland site, Zamperla/CAI is working nearly around the clock to finish the new Luna Park in time for Memorial Day Weekend. If Sitt had sold the land to the City when the rezoning was passed in July, the park would probably be open now! With the return of Ringling Brothers Circus and the grand opening of Luna Park, Coney Island’s stakeholders are busy planning an exciting summer season. But Joe Sitt has yet to announce any tenants or plans for his Coney Island buildings or remaining Stillwell parcels.

Shoot out the Star in Thor-Owned Henderson Building, Bowery at Stillwell. Photo © Tricia Vita//me-myself-i via flickr

Shoot out the Star in Thor-Owned Henderson Building, Bowery at Stillwell. April 19, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita//me-myself-i via flickr

Thor Equities huge “Store for Lease” banners on the Henderson Building and Shore Hotel continue to greet visitors when they exit Stillwell station. As for Thor’s vacant buildings, the Grashorn—Coney Island’s oldest building—and the former Bank of Coney Island—it’s deathwatch time. The Coney Island Rumor Mill is saying a demolition company was asked to give a quote for the takedown of the Grashorn and the Bank of Coney Island immediately as well as the Henderson Building and Shore Hotel by October. Popeye’s $120K per year lease of the corner store on the ground floor is said to be up this year.

Thor-Owned Henderson Building sits on a Parcel Rezoned for a High-Rise Hotel. Photo © Tricia Vita//me-myself-i via flickr

Last July, the Bank of Coney and the Henderson parcels were rezoned for high-rise hotels of up to 27 stories. Though it’s unlikely a hotel will go up anytime soon, the speculation is that Sitt wants to get rid of the Grashorn and Henderson, which were nominated by Coney Island USA for landmark status, before the LPC calendars them or Save Coney Island’s plan for a historic district gathers steam.

Vacant on Surf Ave at Jones Walk: Thor-Owned Grashorn and Lambros Buildings. April 1, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita//me-myself-i via flickr

Since Zamperla/CAI won the 10 year contract to build a new amusement park on the City owned land purchased from Sitt, a who’s who of amusement operators has enquired about leasing Sitt’s remaining parcels. But showmen are not marks. Sitt’s steep asking price—reportedly $300K-$500K– for each of his two 50,000 square foot Stillwell lots–has driven away top carnivals and amusement park operators who negotiated for yet failed to sign multi-year leases. Sources tell ATZ that onerous lease terms such as a 30-day vacate clause and having to pay all of the rent up front helped kill the deals.

Boarded Up Shore Hotel: Nature's Paradise By the Sea. April 26, 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita//me-myself-i via flickr

Sideshow operator John Strong, who negotiated with Thor to bring his freak museum to the Grashorn Building, now says all deals are off since he can’t spend more in rent than he can take in at the ticket box. Strong believes he got outbid by a Russian who owns an arcade. But the supposed tenant, Sam’s Arcade from last year’s Dreamland, hasn’t signed the lease for Coney Island’s oldest building. What is Sitt’s game?

The Wall Street Journal recently had an article called “Empty Storefronts Blot Union Square Area”–San Francisco, not New York–with a quote from Joe Sitt, who is one of the property owners: “Mr. Sitt says he isn’t rushing to lock up a long-term lease before the market recovers. ‘I’m very willing to be patient,’ he says. While an empty storefront might not help in the short run, securing better tenants is a long-term boon for the neighborhood.” Ironically, another quote in the piece is “It’s like a major theme park losing its rides,” says Joe D’Alessandro, chief executive of the city’s Convention & Visitors Bureau, of Union Square’s store closings.

Funny thing is the quote could apply equally to the situation in Coney Island, though Sitt hasn’t had much to say about Coney since he sold 7 acres to the City in November 2009. At the time, Sitt told the Real Deal in a Q & A…

“We have to redo all of our plans, but we will still have millions and millions of square feet of apartments and hotels and retail and restaurants and enclosed amusements. Yes, it will still have the Las Vegas component to it. The latter versions of the renderings are close to what it will be.”

Oh, yeah, he forgot to mention the millions and millions of dollars he’ll make when he flippity-flips it.

Before Thor: Remember Batting Range and Go Kart City? April 16, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

In the meantime, a parade of people eager to do business in Coney Island continues to look at Thor’s Stillwell parcels. Last week, yet another amusement operator interested in a three-year lease for a go-kart track arrived on the scene. Rumor has it they’re set to sign a lease tomorrow. We’ll see. Our skeptical friends say that Sitt’s lots will remain empty this summer. We say it’s 37 days till Memorial Day Weekend and Sitt never had carnival rides up and running in “Dreamland” until then. In fact, bizarre rumors of Thor Equities producing entertainment in a Spiegeltent on one parcel and bringing their very own carnival to the other are circulating, too. What else can we say but this isn’t just any run-of-the-mill rumor mill, it’s in Coney Island, which thrives on the strange, the odd and the unpredictable.

Our Fave Coney Island Song: Joe McGinty’s Million Dollar Mermaid

Posted in Favorites, film, Music Video, tagged Circuit Parade, Coney Island, Edward McGinty, Joe McGinty, Million Dollar Mermaid on April 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

How did we miss this delightful little music video tribute to Coney Island made in June 2007 until today? We’ve fallen under the spell of the quirky arrangement and whimsical lyrics of “Million Dollar Mermaid.”

Make yourself green and wear something scanty
And we’ll make out to the sounds of sea shanties
Screams of the Cyclone, the sweet symphony
Photobooths, bumper cars, sideshows
And you’re here with me….

“Million Dollar Mermaid” is the work of genius keyboardist, composer and arranger Joe McGinty. He wrote the song as an homage to Coney in what was expected to be the last summer of Astroland. “Big changes are in store for Coney Island, and I wanted to capture my favorite memories in song,” McGinty wrote at the time. His cousin Edward McGinty made the beguiling video in which a boy and a girl enjoy a ride spree in Wonder Wheel Park, their grown-up counterparts waltz on the Boardwalk, and McGinty and his band Circuit Parade play “Million Dollar Mermaid.”

The former member of the Psychedelic Furs operates a vintage keyboard studio in Brooklyn and has released original music as part of McGinty and White, Circuit Parade, Baby Steps and Space Nutz. Visit Joe McGinty’s website for more marvelous music.

Photo Album: Heroic 24/7 Race to Build Coney Island’s New Luna Park

Posted in amusement park, Coney Island Redevelopment, tagged Amusement park construction, Bruce Handy, Central Amusement International, Coney Island, Luna Park, Zamperla on April 14, 2010| 2 Comments »

“Walked past the park tonight at 8:30 and the floodlights were on and the backhoe was digging,” photographer and Coney Island resident Bruce Handy writes in a Tuesday night e-mail. “See my photostream, 4 night photos.” The four pix are part of his flickr set called The Birth of Luna Park.

Luna Park, 24/7. April 13, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Back in January, when we got the scoop that the park would be named Luna Park “like the first, the only, the inimitable one…,” Zamperla President and CEO Alberto Zamperla characterized the next few months as “a race against time.” Over the past week it became apparent to residents that construction crews were laboring virtually 24/7. A heroic effort is underway at the former Astroland site to make sure that Coney Island’s new Luna Park is ready to open on Memorial Day Weekend. May 29th is just 44 days away!

Luna Park, 24/7. April 11, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flick

At the moment, mounds of dirt are everywhere as site prep work continues night and day. Utility lines are currently being installed. “Every time I have viewed the site they have been working, except Sunday afternoon and night,” says Bruce, who notes that workers were even on the job at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning!

From Birth of Luna Park Set. April 6, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Except for this peephole, the construction fence is completely covered with safety netting. But the Q train is a great vantage point for taking photos. Last month, Bruce took the following photo which soon appeared on Luna Park’s blog with the explanation that the mystery pipes were actually part of a detention tank being installed underground to collect storm-water runoff.

From Birth of Luna Park Set. March 19, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Last month, a press release on Zamperla’s website said the company is 100% focused on Coney Island. “Antonio Zamperla SpA, world leader in the amusement industry as ride manufacturer and park operator, has left the company set up in 2007 with the Italian group Thorus to acquire and operate the amusement park in Capriate San Gervasio, Bergamo, Italy, later renamed Minitalia Leolandia Park, and is now fully focused on the re-launch of the historically significant Luna Park of Coney Island, New York.”

We’re wowed by Zamperla/CAI’s round-the-clock work schedule and single-minded commitment to Coney Island. Can’t wait to see the new park take shape as the rides begin to arrive. The park will have 19 new Zamperla rides including the prototype “Air Race,” a Mega Disk’O and a Vertical Swing. “The new Luna Park has been designed to reflect the spirit and personality of today’s Coney Island, while capturing the original look and feel of its namesake,” according to a press statement released yesterday. “With no entrance fee, Luna Park will be fully accessible to those who prefer games to rides, or to those simply taking a stroll down the Boardwalk.” We fully expect to be dazzled when we walk through its soon-to-be famous gate.