Was it only November when Mayor Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff and Planning Director Amanda Burden stood in Coney Island dismissing developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities as a shopping center developer, saying they wanted a "world-class" operator involved in the redo of the Coney Island amusement district? Today's Post reports that "a desperate city" is "now looking to bring a controversial developer back into the plan" to renovate Coney Island. Where the story originates is unclear, but it is not the first such rumbling. The Post story says that with the economy tanking and deal for the 11 acres of land far from reached, the city is "suddenly open to him playing some role in the park, even though the goal remains finding a world-class operator to run it." Still, Coney Island Development Corp. director Lynn Kelly says that even if Mr. Sitt is involved in the plan, he still won't be able to build high-rise condos or condo hotels in the amusement district. The public airing of the Coney soap opera may be one of the surest signs that summer is coming.
· Desperate City Reconsiders Coney Builder [NYP]
· For Troubled Coney Plan, City May Need to Backpeddle [TRE]
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