So, how many protests, rallies and turns of events will there be in the Coney Island Redevelopment drama? There are many in 2007, culminating with the Joe Sitt is Toast bombshell lobbed in November. That was followed by the Maybe Sitt Isn't So Bad After All Rethinking a few weeks ago. The byproduct of that reconsideration--a dramatic shrinkage in the Coney amusement park announced in November so that Mr. Sitt can keep a lot more of his land and, maybe, make nice with the city--is a demonstration now planned for "opening day" of the Coney summer season. What's interesting is that the protesters will be many of the same people that were cheering in November. In any case, the Post reports that "community organizations with 4,000 members" will be turning the May 22 opening of Coney Island's beach "into a freak show to protest the city's revision of a rezoning plan that reduces a planned 15-acre amusement park to nine acres." The Polar Bear Club and Coney Island USA are among the organizations involved. It's safe to say they're not fans of the redone plan.
· Coney Rally "Freak" Out [NYP]
· City Releases Coney Island V.3.1. Plan with Major Revisions [Curbed]
[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch]