After the Demolition: New View of Surf Ave in Coney Island. February 11, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
In the words of T.S. Eliot: “April is the cruellest month…” Last April, Joe Sitt of Thor Equities announced plans to demolish the buildings he owned along Surf Avenue in Coney Island. Now when visitors step out of Stillwell Terminal, their first glimpse of Coney Island will be the blue construction fence surrounding Joe Sitt’s Wasteland–the newest empty lot in the real-estate speculator’s collection of empty lots. The temporary one-story building that Sitt filed a variety of plans to build beginning in October has yet to break ground because the DOB “DISAPPROVED” the plans as many as 16 times over the past six months.
Surf and Stillwell was the site of the now-demolished, century-old Henderson Music Hall. The Henderson had survived being cut in half in the 1920s to make way for the widening of Stillwell Avenue. When the City rezoned the parcel for a high-rise “hotel” in July 2009, the historic building was doomed, even though no hotel is scheduled to be built there anytime soon. At the end of the 2010 season, longtime tenants Popeye’s Chicken, Fascination Arcade and Maritza’s Souvenirs were booted out and haven’t been heard from since.
Thor’s proposed construction is a “ONE STORY NEW COMMERCIAL BUILDING WITH ASSEMBLY AND AMUSEMENT SPACES AS INDICATED ON PLANS FILED HEREWITH.” If you look under “plan examination” you’ll see that they have filed for a variety of types of permits (equipment, new building, general construction, foundation & earthworks, fencing) with a corresponding number of disapprovals for each.
Post No Bills: Thor Equities Empty Lot at Corner of Surf & Stillwell, Coney Island. February 28, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
As shown under “all permits,” they have applied for and been issued permits for Foundations, Earthwork, and a Construction Fence in connection with the project. This will allow them to do the excavation and pour the foundations for the job, even while the New Building and other applications remain disapproved.
Last April, Thor Equities released a rendering of a cheesy looking temporary one-story building occupied by hamburger and taco food joints. And a statement: “With the work we are commencing today, by Memorial Day, 2011, all of our parcels along Surf Avenue are scheduled to be activated with family-friendly games, food, shopping and other activities that visitors to, and residents of, Coney are clamoring for….”
Thinkwell's rendering for Thor's Temporary One-Story Building in Coney Island. April 2010
When we first read about Thor’s plan and saw the rendering in Eliot Brown’s piece in the Observer–”The New Coney Island? Sitt Sees Fast Food in Place of Current Buildings”–we thought Thinkwell, a well-known firm in the themed entertainment industry, should be renamed Thinkworst for creating this crappy rendering for the gateway to Coney Island. Thor’s plan to get demo permits from the City seemed calculated to put an end to Save Coney Island’s efforts to create an historic district in Coney Island.
Joe Sitt's Newest Empty Lot (Site of Demolished Henderson Building), Coney Island. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
Last April, ATZ complained about “Thor’s Coney Island: Tattered Tents and Deathwatch for Historic Buildings” (ATZ, April 21, 2010). The bedraggled tenting was removed and the City put up fence wraps with colorful advertisements for Coney attractions to camouflage the empty lots. We’re curious to see what kind of bills if any will be posted on Thor’s blue construction fence. Posters for Aqueduct Flea by the Sea?
UPDATE April 4, 2011:
Some readers have questioned whether Thor Equities ever really intended to build anything on the site. Were the building plans just an excuse to get a permit to demolish the Henderson? Why didn’t Thor’s architects resubmit a plan that would win DOB approval? Six months of disapprovals seems like an inordinately long time.
ATZ asked someone in the building trade to take a look at the DOB page and give an opinion. Here it is: it IS strange that they had so many disapprovals for what seems like such a simple building, and i have to think that if they are proceeding with foundations, they either think they are about to get the new building application approved, or they are sensing some change in the regulatory environment and want to get the foundations in so that they can claim to be “vested”. who knows what that would be in this case, but does seem like a lot of trouble to go thru for a one story building (am sure they’re thinking the same thing).
Related posts on ATZ…
December 20, 2010: Displaced Queens Flea Vendors Eye Coney Island’s Vacant Lots
September 24, 2010: Coney Island Cat Is Last Tenant of Henderson Building
April 21, 2010: Thor’s Coney Island: Tattered Tents, Deathwatch for Historic Buildings
June 7, 2010: Fence Wrap Advertising Comes to Coney Island’s Stillwell Avenue
Amusing the Zillion 
Glad to see that he is not getting what he wants! Sad that there are these huge empty lots on Surf Avenue now, though. I would like to see the area flourish but I’d rather have nothing than those cheesy, imagination-less placeholders.. just wish the businesses that were there had a place to come back to. Great post, Tricia!
As a child growing up in the 60’s, I remember walking with my Dad from Luna Park (housing) to the Manufacturers Hanover Trust bank in the former Bank of Coney Island building. What a grand bank that was, with the Marble counters and teller cages and the brass grills separating the customers from the tellers.
As a teenager in the 60’s, many rainy Saturday afternoons were spent playing Pinball and SkiBall at Fabers Fascination. Eating the greasy delicious beef patties and treats from the small stands along Surf Ave, and the caramel corn from the candy store at the entrance of the subway station. I used to love watching the Salt Water Taffy machine pulling then cutting and wrapping the pieces of taffy.
Saturday nights with my high school sweetheart in Astroland and walking down the Midway, and the Parachute and Zipper rides (that one scared the crap out of me)! Those two were about the only open rides the night of the blackout of ’77. Riding the three big wood ‘coasters. The little girl walking back and forth past the ring toss stand with a giant stuffed bear, every time she passed by the recorded announcement would say “And there goes another lucky winner!”
The city should have saved those historic buildings and the small entrepreneurs that kept Coney Island unique. Sure there were dark times, but Coney Island was experiencing a renaissance since the Cyclones came to town. Now we have Joe Sitt tearing everything down, and Sodexo opening expensive generic food stands. And I have my memories of those wonderful times!
So much for the uniqueness of Coney Island.
The visual of The Henderson Music Hall intact, renovated and filled with people, same as it was only updated. Now, that would have been progress with Coney Island flavor. Butt no! Now we have all this!
Ooooh. Maybe we’ll get a whole bunch more of that business-attracting fence wrap advertising. *sigh*
Ah, the new Coney Island, Recreating the Coney Island of 175 years ago, only without the marshiness.
Eventually, if nothing gets built nature will start reclaiming the land.
Who is funding all this development? Private and government. There needs to be a full disclosure of funding,especially anyone running for office in the next Election. Has the EPA and outside agencies done any studies with respect to what has transpired?
Has anyone considered the possibility that the same city that allowed the unnecessary demolition of three historic structures might just have agreed to “deny” these building permits so that poor Joe could save his time and money while appearing to wish to do something with the property? Yes, collusion. That’s what it smells like to me.
Dear readers, thanks for all your comments. I posted an update at the bottom of the piece. A comment from someone who works in the building trade speculating about the reason for the disapproved plans.
Can’t say I look forward to the building in the rendering ever being the first glimpse of Coney when one exits the terminal. But it is disgraceful that Joe Sitt gets away with destroying the historic fabric of Coney island and has never built anything here except a failed flea market
I hope that greedy bastard can never build there at all.