March 28, 2024

Is a 400% Rent Increase the Future of Coney Island?

Mr. Bloomberg wanted to restore the district, which began to decline in the 1960s, to its heyday by promoting the development of stores and apartments along Surf Avenue. Businesses that were open only in the summer would move to a year-round schedule, helping to bolster what Mr. Bloomberg envisioned as the nation’s largest urban amusement park.

The city leased the land to Zamperla, allowing it to open Luna Park in 2010, dictate its own lease agreements with small businesses owners, and even require those businesses to hand over some of their profits.

Beloved boardwalk businesses that did not fit Zamperla’s vision were shuttered. Others, like Ms. Carlin’s boutique, which had been evicted under Mr. Sitt, returned.

By 2012, the revival was underway, and crowds and revenue were growing. Ms. Carlin said her profits rose nearly 50 percent after Zamperla assumed control.

“Most people believe that it has been developed in a manner consistent with Coney Island’s history,” Seth W. Pinsky, the former president of the Economic Development Corporation, said about the area.

Still, the amusement district is not operational year-round. Mark Treyger, the city councilman who represents the part of Brooklyn that includes Coney Island, said he believed this stemmed from a dearth of investment by the city and Mayor Bill de Blasio in the 2009 goals.

“Businesses just don’t know where the de Blasio administration is taking Coney Island,” Mr. Treyger said. “There’s a lack of vision or holistic plan to improve the area.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/nyregion/coney-island-rent-hike.html?emc=rss&partner=rss

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