Connoisseurs of hypocrisy should enjoy this one: On Tuesday, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) tweeted “Support your small local business,” yet refuses to support or say a word to the press about the nine small local businesses booted off City-owned property in Coney Island. The NYCEDC leased the Boardwalk property to Central Amusement International, the New Jersey-based operator of Coney Island’s new Luna Park.
It appears that City officials are trying to distance themselves from responsibility for the eviction of Mom and Pops by referring all requests for comment to CAI. In an op-ed in this week’s Courier News, Valerio Ferrari, president of Central Amusement International promised a “multi-million dollar program that will bring back the world-class mix of entertainment, dining and nightlife that was once a hallmark of the famed Boardwalk.” Last week, Ferrari told us that Luna Park is investing $1.4 million in a new restaurant at the corner of Surf and 10th Street, formerly occupied by Gregory & Paul’s. A Boardwalk restaurant/bar hoping to get a lease renewal would have had to make a million dollar investment as well, Ferrari said.
Also on Tuesday, Paul’s Daughter, the Boardwalk restaurant formerly known as Gregory & Paul’s, posted an invite to a party on Saturday afternoon at 12:30. “It’s on the house!” Come out and enjoy the best french fries in all of Coney Island (yes, better than Nathan’s!) and photograph their iconic signage, perhaps for the very last time (we hope not). Watch for our photo album and reminiscences of the 40-year-old Boardwalk establishment coming tomorrow! Paul’s is one of the nine businesses being forced out by the redevelopment.
Paul's Daughter, formerly Gregory & Paul's, on the Coney Island Boardwalk. June 27, 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
ATZ learned that the businesses, which had been given only two weeks to vacate the premises, were granted a four-day reprieve, presumably to give them a little more time to pack up decades worth of memorabilia and get out. Or perhaps the extension has something to do with legal action taken by eight of the business owners reported in today’s New York Post. Yesterday the businesses received letters extending the original November 15th deadline to vacate till November 19th.
Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for the NYCEDC or its president Seth Pinsky to reply to our tweets: Waiting for @sethpinsky @NYCEDC to “figure out where it makes sense for the various tenants to remain as we build out the amusement park” and Let’s see if @NYCEDC will at least relocate the mom & pop businesses booted off City-owned land in Coney.
This Friday, November 12, will be the one-year anniversary of the city’s press conference on the land buy where Shoot the Freak’s Anthony Berlingieri posed the question directly to Mayor Bloomberg: “Is there a place for us?” NYCEDC President Seth Pinsky gave a diplomatic reply: “Our intention is for the foreseeable future to keep all the tenants in place, certainly through next summer [2010]. And we’re going to be looking to work with each of you to figure out where it makes sense for the various tenants to remain as we build out the amusement park.”
Hey Seth, come to the party at Paul’s Daughter on Saturday, November 13, at 12:30 pm, and support local small business in Coney Island!
Related posts on ATZ…
July 17, 2012: 50 Years on Coney Island Boardwalk for Paul & His Daughter
November 13, 2011: The End of Paul’s Daughter As We Know It–Will They Return?
October 13, 2011: October 13, 2011: Photo of the Day: Coney Island Americana Looking for New Beach
November 1, 2010: Out With the Old in Coney Island: Only 2 of 11 Boardwalk Businesses Invited Back
Amusing the Zillion 
Having lived in the area for 45 years, i’m happy that that disgusting stretch of the boardwalk is being renewed. Those businesses are fithy and look terrible. A bathroom in one of them collapsed a couple of years ago. Shoot The Freak was formed only because the whole sidewalk there collapsed about 10 years ago, creating the alley where Shoot The Freak exists.
Instead of fighting it, we should applaud the guy for putting money into upgrading Coney Island. I can’t wait.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Love it or hate it, there’s no denying Shoot the Freak is a cultural phenom, known all over the world. Yesterday I took a pic of tourists from London taking the requisite souvenir photo in front of it. Some would even say it’s a national treasure…
http://gawker.com/5678814/america-loses-a-national-treasure-shoot-the-freak
Ruby’s and Paul’s Daughter are Mom & Pops who kept Coney’s Boardwalk alive and authentic through rough times without the benefit of a multi-year lease that CAI has with the City. Now the City remains silent when asked to relocate the small businesses being evicted from City-owned land. I’m sure that in the coming years, visitors will be asking me where’s Ruby’s, Paul’s, Shoot the Freak. Just as they still ask for the batting cages and go karts evicted by Thor in 2007.