Early Monday morning Steve (owner of the Grill House) and I were going to a meeting and received the news. I was driving when his wife called him and told him that after 17 years he nolonger had a business. His whole body began to quiver and shake and with tears told me that this was his entire life. Steve had established his business in 1993 with the help of a relative. The property to which he built The Grillhouse on was a sandy area of Coney Boardwalk with burnt out cars and trash. For 17 year he continued to make improvements to the business and facility. He weathered many rainy seasons and in the end was able to maintain a reasonable lifestyle. He employed, during the busy season, nearly 30 very hard to employee people from the Coney Island area. On a busy day he provided food to thousands of customers. His business reflected the Coney Island Entrepreneurial spirit that made Coney Island into an amazing place to visit. Each of the people displaced by Central Amusements, the front for Bloomberg and NYC Economic Development Corporation, were evicted so that urban development might take place. Up until this time no one would make investments here because of the risk of making money.
Who takes over Coney Island? Central Amusements (an Italian owned and financed company) was given a 10 year lease of city owned property for $100K plus a small percentage of profit per year (that is for 6.9 acres). In addition, all the infrastructure was built out at the expense of NYC. This included electric, power infrastructure and all paving to the specs of Central Amusements. All they had to do was drop their rides into place. As an added benefit they can use this park as a sales tool. (Picture - Gordon of Polar Bears and Steve Owner of the Grill House)
Under the direction of the Bloomberg team they were also given the responsibility of reshaping the look and feel of the boardwalk. They (in good faith) gave the current vendors a chance to bid on the properties and businesses. However prior to the bids and behind closed doors a French company was hired to organize and implement the boardwalk. For this company it was all or nothing. Either they were given the entire boardwalk to work over or they would not entertain taking the project. The bids of the current vendors meant nothing and were solicited as a public relations stunt for critics of the project.
Critics have said that Bloomberg should not be spending over 100 million on this project with so many people suffering with unemployment and MTA fair increases. They have sharply criticized him for offering this project to a foreign company and then again evicting American small businessmen and hiring a French company to manage the boardwalk properties. As they evict the small successful business men who hired local workers, they will be replaced with corporate franchise businesses.
One franchise that won a spot on the boardwalk was Nathans Hot Dogs. As you might be aware, their first store is on Surf Avenue, down the block from the Grill House. To date the competitive nature of the hot dog business kept prices to $2.50 and $3.00 a hot dog. This summer Luna Park had a fixed price of $4 for a Nathans hot dog. Now all the competition will be gone and Nathans can charge $4 or more for a hot dog. This pricing scheme will make it impossible for about 85% of the people visiting the beach to afford food there.
All of this is to say that one of the most quintessential American places where the entrepreneurial spirit reigned has been taken over by foreign companies and corporations with little or no interest in the local community. If one wants to figure out why our country is in deep trouble, look no further than the shores of Coney Island.
In retaliation the owners met in a private place and retained a high powered lawyer to protest their eviction on such short and harsh notice. In the end they will be evicted, whether this year or within the next few years. Steve may be entitled to a cash sum for his building. He is looking into starting a new place across from Nathans on Surf Avenue.
A fairer way to have done this would be to have torn down the deteriorating buildings and built new structures and allow the current vendors back with reasonable rents. Greed and big corporate business can never see that, nor can the Government that was elected to serve us.
