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The famous Coney Island rocket first appeared on NYC's scene in 1962. It was a 26-passenger movie theater that vibrated as viewers watched a "journey to the moon" movie. More recently, it sat motionless atop a Boardwalk food stand. New plans for Coney are forcing it out. From Brooklyn to the Smithsonian, no organization was interested in displaying this famous icon. Let’s hope the rocket finally touched down in a safe location.▼
IMPORTANT NOTE: This piece was written today about an older New York City news headline. NYCo site delays prevented its publication before now. In an effort to entertain and educate this blog’s devoted viewers, 100’s of older headlines will be posted in chronological order until this blog is discussing current events again. Though some stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of mention and viewer comments.
[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments and reply to others. This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]
Though Coney Island will be losing its famed Astroland, Joe Sitt plans to build a flea market called, "Flea By The Sea." It will run between April and December along Stillwell Avenue near the Boardwalk. On a less appealing "pest" note, in the coming years, bedbugs throughout New York City are expected to run year round.IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog is a quick comment on an older New York City news headline. Unforeseen NYCo website development delays prevented it’s publication before now. For readership continuity, 100’s of older headlines are to be posted in chronological order until this blog is current. Though some of the stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of this site’s mention and viewer comments.
[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments and reply to others! This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]
New York City purchased a prime acre of Coney Island real estate for $11 million. This maneuver prevents Thor Equities, CEO Joe Sitt, from moving forward with his plans to develop a Vegas-like entertainment complex. It also boosts city policy to build a new amusement park in Coney. The city owns 4 of 9 acres needed to do just that. Sitt owns most of the present-day amusement area. He reportedly did not see Bloomberg "strolling down the Boardwalk" with this bold action. The carnival game between the city and Sitt will go on. Now that Mayor Bloomberg will likely be mayor another four years, it’ll be interesting to see if Sitt will "sit still" in the city’s "dog house" or make a shrewd move to go back into his "life is wonderful in Coney" funhouse once again
On September 9th, it appeared that Astroland in Coney Island had entertained its last customer. Thankfully, a deal was reached with Thor Equities to extend the park’s official closing one more year. Thor also extended eight other attractions by the Boardwalk. It’s an unexpected, but very welcome surprise that a settlement was reached.
Thor’s $100 million dollar investment to redesign and develop Coney won’t save Astroland or many of the other places we know. That means New Yorkers and tourists have just one more season to enjoy what remains of old Coney Island before “Corporate Coney” replaces it. Future images of this world famous attraction look more like a generic Disney theme park than a unique Brooklyn experience. That's sad. We can only hope that Coney Island will become as wonderful and distinctive a place as it once was, many, many, many years ago.
