Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff and Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden dropped the bomb that the Coney Island rezone would include putting its amusement district in public hands. The coverage has been thick and there has been reaction. Here are a few highlights:
1) "We’re disappointed by the Mayor’s presentation, but are optimistic that a deal can be reached between the city, the landowners and the community to make Coney Island an even greater place to live and visit." [Developer Joe Sitt via Curbed Inbox]
2) "Why would the city spend all that money to end up with something that it could have gotten from Sitt with a simple zoning change? One glimpse into city’s rationale may come from Bloomberg’s take-no-prisoners Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff. To Doctoroff, Sitt was simply not up to the job of building his $1.5-billion Xanadu." [Brooklyn Paper]
3) "Though the announcement seemed like something entirely new, much of it came refurbished and similar to what Thor Equities had already proposed." [Kinetic Carnival]
4) "The project could spell trouble for developer Thor Equities, its owner, Joe Sitt, and others who have property within a 15-acre swath now proposed for city-owned parkland." [NYDN]
5) "If anything's going to be built, shovels won't go into the ground until 2009. But if that's a problem in Coney Island, it will also be a problem at the World Trade Center, the West Side Yards, the Atlantic Yards and anywhere else there are large projects that aren't in construction yet. There are a lot of hoops to jump through before anything can get done. [David Gratt/Coney Island USA via Coney Island Message Board]
6) "I think it’s better than any plan we’ve seen,” said Astroland worker Ruth Magwood. “It looks like a great plan now, but you never know what they can sneak in." [Metro]
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