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Posts Tagged ‘Boardwalk’

Exclusive: Surrender the Premises Letter Sent to Coney Island Boardwalk Veterans

Posted in Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged Boardwalk, Central Amusement International, Coney Island, Luna Park, mom & pop businesses, NYCEDC, vacate the premises letter on November 4, 2010| 10 Comments »

On Wednesday afternoon, several owners of mom-and-pop businesses on Coney Island’s Boardwalk met to discuss taking legal action against eviction by Central Amusement International/Luna Park. ATZ obtained a copy of the two-page vacate the premises notice sent to the business owners. We’re told all nine of the booted businesses received the same form letter, down to the generic salutation “Dear Sir or Madam…”

When the business owners received the Fedex envelopes containing the long-awaited letter on Monday morning, they expected to read CAI’s specific response to the business plans which they had prepared and submitted. But the letter doesn’t contain so much as a “We regret to inform you that your business plan was not selected.”

According to the letter’s second graf, the City’s Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) licensed the Boardwalk properties to CAI. The deal was done in February. “As part of our arrangement with the EDC, we licensed those Boardwalk properties (including your site) to EDC, which made it possible for EDC to grant you the License Agreement for the 2010 summer season.”

New kid on the block Luna Park plans to replace the gritty authenticity of the Boardwalk’s oldest bar and sausage and clam joints with a huge sports bar, an upscale year-round restaurant, another Nathan’s satellite and a beer garden. The new businesses would flank the Luna-esque entrance to CAI’s Scream Zone, which will be where Shoot the Freak is now.

The cruellest part of the letter calls for the business owners, some of whom have occupied the same spot for decades, to formally acknowledge the surrender of the licensed premises and vacate within 15 days or face penalties. Coney Island history, including the Boardwalk’s vernacular signage, will be swept away to make way for the new Luna Park-inspired fronts shown in CAI’s renderings. “They didn’t have the vision that we have for the Boardwalk,” Valerio Ferrari, president of CAI/ZAmperla USA told ATZ on Monday. “It’s a business decision.” The letter says….

We want you to understand that while our company is affording you fifteen additional days in which to leave the licensed premises, the timing is critical in order for the Boardwalk properties to be ready for operations next season. For this reason, please be aware that Central Amusement International will enforce the penalties provisions in your License Agreement as well as seek all available legal and equitable remedies in the event that you should fail to leave by November 15, 2010.

ATZ learned from one of the business owners that the penalty is $2,500 per day for each day after November 15th.

Out With the Old in Coney Island: Only 2 of 11 Boardwalk Businesses Invited Back

Posted in Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged Boardwalk, Cha-Cha's, Coney Island, Luna Park, Ruby's, Zamperla on November 1, 2010| 29 Comments »

Gyro Corner on the Boardwalk in Coney Island. October 31, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i

We’re still in shock and will have more to say in the coming days. It’s like a mass wake on the Coney Island Boardwalk at the moment. The funeral will be this weekend…It’s goodbye Ruby’s, Cha Cha’s, Paul’s Daughter, Grill House, Gyro Corner, Shoot the Freak, Beer Island, Pio Pio Riko and Coney Island Souvenir Shop. After hearing the news from folks on the Boardwalk that the venerable Ruby’s and several others were out, ATZ phoned Zamperla USA/CAI CEO Valerio Ferrari for confirmation. It’s shocking but true: the only two existing Boardwalk businesses invited back are Nathan’s and Lola Star Boutique. These lucky survivors will be offered a 9-year lease. The other nine businesses will become part of Coney Island history, unless the City helps them relocate in the neighborhood.

Ruby's, Coney Island. October 31, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i

“They didn’t have the vision that we have for the Boardwalk,” Ferrari told ATZ. “It’s a business decision.” He says Zamperla/CAI’s vision is to revitalize the Boardwalk by making it a lively place open 365 days a year. But it’s also a matter of investment dollars. 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.

Made with Love: Signage at Paul's Daughter, Coney Island. October 31, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i

Where Cha Cha’s is located there will be a year-round restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, with upscale food. Ruby’s and the Souvenir Shop will be replaced by a huge sports bar. Ferrari says they have letters of intent from the companies that will bring in the bar and restaurant, but was not ready to reveal the names of the restaurateurs.

Last night, ATZ was on the Boardwalk taking photos of the vernacular signage and gritty authenticity of Ruby’s, Cha Cha’s, Paul’s Daughter, Shoot the Freak, and the other Boardwalk businesses. It was the last day of the 2010 season. As it turns out, it’s the last day period. The businesses have two weeks to vacate the premises they’ve occupied for 7, 20 and in one case 40 years.

It seems to us that Seth Pinsky of the NYCEDC has some explaining to do. As ATZ reported last year in “Ciao Coney Island! Will Ruby’s, Shoot the Freak, Astrotower & Other Oldies Survive?” (December 18, 2009)…

Before the RFP release, Shoot the Freak’s Anthony Berlingieri made headlines when he appeared at the City’s press conference on the land buy and 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. 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.”

UPDATE… November 3, 2010: Friends of Ruby’s Bar Launch Petition, Plan Nov 6 Rally

Last Drink at Ruby's Bar, Coney Island. October 31, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita

Oct 31: Last Day of Season for Boardwalk Businesses, Some Won’t Be Back

Posted in Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged Boardwalk, Cha-Cha's, Coney Island, dive bars, Last Day of Season, Ruby's Bar on October 30, 2010| 2 Comments »

Halloween at Cha Cha's 2009. Photo © Coney Gal/Mindy via flickr

On October 31st, Ruby’s Bar will host their annual closing party. “Come celebrate Halloween at Ruby’s, wear a costume and get a free beer,” Rubys Host says. The Grill House will have Coney Island band Neptune Jam’s Halloween Jam on the Boardwalk from 1- 5 pm. Cha Cha’s, which is decorated for Halloween year round, will celebrate from 2:30 pm with music by Killer Joe and the Warriors. Come out to playyy! It’s the last day of the season for Coney Island’s legendary dive bars as well as for the other Boardwalk businesses, including Paul’s Daughter, Steve’s Grill House, Gyro Corner and Lola Star Gift Shop.

Lola Star Gift Shop and Gyro Corner. August 20, 2010. Photo © Mattron via flickr

The 11 Boardwalk businesses have leases with the City through Oct 31 for the 2010 season. Zamperla USA/CAI, which is taking over management of the City-owned Boardwalk properties, is expected to offer new 9-year leases to some, but not all, of the businesses after reviewing their business plans.

Paul's Daughter in Coney Island. September 24, 2010. Photo © SaucyPinkJesus/Christopher Duff via flickr

“Some will stay, some won’t. We’re exploring our options,” Zamperla USA CEO Valerio Ferrari told the Brooklyn Paper earlier this month. The catch is we don’t expect to find out who’s getting a new lease till the end of the month. Hey, it is the end of the month! Rumors abound, but an official announcement has yet to be made. If you have a sentimental favorite on the Boardwalk, come out on the last day of the season and show them some love. And don’t forget to take souvenir photos. UPDATE October 31….Business owners told us that they would find out on Monday whether or not they’d get a new lease from Zamperla/CAI!

Wild Women & Wise Guys. March 15, 2009. Photo © Justin Korn via flickr

ATZ will be in Coney on Halloween to hang out with friends and revisit old haunts. We’ll snap photos as if it were “last call” for the vernacular signage and gritty authenticity of these Boardwalk mainstays. Just in case. If they get erased from the Coney landscape, we’ll still have our memories and our photos. The oldest existing business is probably Paul’s Daughter, formerly known as Gregory & Paul’s. The family-run business has been at its Boardwalk location for more than 40 years. Cha Cha’s and Nathan’s satellite location are in the former Club Atlantis building,which requires extensive rehab to bring it up to code.

Behind the Counter at Ruby's Bar in Coney Island. April 16, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i

The namesake of Ruby’s Bar–Ruby Jacobs–bought the bar in 1975. That’s his portrait with the Parachute Jump amid the vintage photos on the oft-photographed wall. After Ruby’s death in 2000, West 12th Street was named Ruby Jacobs Way in his honor. His daughters and son-in-law continue to run the family-owned business.

Shoot the Freak (I felt like I had stepped back in time). October 7, 2010. Photo © Marniepix via flickr

The world-famous Shoot the Freak is a relative newcomer having arrived on the Boardwalk in 2002. By the next season, the game was world famous. ”Look, this is a country where there was the pet rock,” Shoot the Freak’s creator Anthony Berlingieri told a reporter for the New York Times. ”I always figure that after that, everything stands a shot.”

Last November, Berlingieri made headlines when he appeared at the City’s press conference about the $95.6 million land purchase from Thor and 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.”

Does this mean the EDC is committed to relocating the small businesses displaced by the redevelopment of City-owned property in the new Coney Island? Stay tuned.