This weekend, Memorial Day 2012 marks some huge changes for Coney Island . The
past disappeared over the winter months as final changes to the boardwalk
became a reality. The fight to preserve
the old with the new actually played itself out.
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| Gregory and Paul's Now Paul's Daughter |
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| Vintage Look of Paul's Daughters |
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| New Boardwalk Nathans |
Gregory and Paul's elected to stay on the boardwalk. Greg, Steve's Father, retired. Paul now in his eighties gave the business to
his Daughter. They completely gutted
the place and created a retro look. They
spent a lot of money putting this together.
With great effort they are open and ready for business.
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| Michael Of Coney Island |
The other mainstay was Ruby's bar. Michael, the owner, worked all winter to
upgrade his place. He did most of the
work himself. During the winter they
replaced part of the boardwalk and he took all the scrap wood to create a new
bar and interesting decor. His place
opened back up last weekend.
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| Ruby's New Boardwalk Plank Bar |
Making a huge impact to the boardwalk is Nathans who created
a huge presence with a beautiful restaurant.
It is very corporate and at the same time very retro. They opened up a month ago. They have been packed everyday since their
opening. They also opened up a Nathan's
Tee Shop.
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| Brooklyn Beach Shop |
Also new to the Boardwalk is the Brooklyn Beach Shop. This is owned by the family that runs a very
successful Beach Shop next to Nathans on Stillwell Avenue . They poured a lot of money into this facility
and it looks amazing.
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| Beach Shop Interior |
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| Tom's New Restaurant |
After all the dust has settled, The Boardwalk looks
great. Next to come on the boardwalk is
Tom's a Restaurant with a great breakfast and lunch menu. This facility is in the process of being
built.
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| Steve's New Grill House |
In all, of the eight owners fighting to save their
businesses (The Coney Island Eight), two remained. My dear friend Steve Bitetzakis lost his
battle to stay on the boardwalk after a long court battle. In the end, Luna park (New York City ) paid him $120,000 for his
building. He took the money and bought
a trailer and set up a food vending business off the Boardwalk. This has been very difficult for Steve. Currently he has stage 3 colon cancer and is
on Chemo. Yesterday his wife mentioned
that he is in pain all the time. Most
nights he cannot sleep.
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| Steve's Old Shop Becoming Bar |
The City of New York continues
their battle against the smaller businesses who try to make money in Coney Island .
There is a flea market just off the boardwalk that offers a lot of Coney
Clothing and ethnic foods. This is run
by some pretty powerful guys. Last year
the city turned their back on this market letting them operate without permits. This year, Luna park stands to loose a lot
of money from this market and now that the Boardwalk is the parks, yesterday
the city raided the market, completely shutting it down. I guess you have to be the judge of whether
this is right or wrong. Steve of course
had his food stand in that Market so on the first day he was to open he was
shut down.
In the next few months more new rides are going to open
up. Steve's old place is going to
become a Bar on the boardwalk.
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| Newly Added Go Cart Rides |
I am now 62. I love
all the changes because it has brought new life to the boardwalk. However, gone are the familiar faces that
frequented Coney Island . Gone are the favorite watering holes where
the mainstay people would come. This
has definitely taken an emotional toll on my place to relax and see my
friends. The carpet was pulled out from
under me.
The interesting lesson in all of this is that the corporate
rebuilding of America
takes the personal community element away from the people. The boardwalk was a community where many
people used to go and relax. In a big
way it has been replaced as a big money maker.
The question is whether all this renewal will be affordable
and profitable for those who will bear the expense of this. The aim is to draw a higher end client who
can afford $4 for a hotdog. As of this
weekend those people did not show up.
God also has his say in all of this; if it rains they will not make
it. This weekend was filled with on and
off rain.
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| Coney's Cones |
The story of Coney Island, "America 's Play land" will
continue to unfold, hopefully with a bright future. Have a wonderful summer.
