Kathleen Horan
Kathleen Horan has worked at WNYC Radio since 2001 and been a reporter in the newsroom since 2006.
New Development Plans for Famed Amusement Park
Friday, November 09, 2007
New York, NY –
The city has unveiled its proposal for re-zoning Coney island. The new plan covers 19city blocks and is one of the largest re-zoning plans Brooklyn has ever seen. The new project derails the plans of private developer Joe Sitt of Thor Equities who had wanted to build hotels and year round amusements along the waterfront. WNYC's Kathleen Horan has more:
REPORTER: The city wants to keep Coney Isaldn amusement park but improve it. The mayor laid out plans for an outdoor ice-skating rink, and the addition of hotels, shops and housing. But they're looking to find another developer to build what they call the largest urban amusement park in the country. Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff says its about finding the right person for the job:
DOCTOROFF: you got a choice -one guy without experience or a chance to be able to go out to the ENTIRE world and go out and find the best - your choice is always going to be to go out and find the best.
REPORTER: Joe Sitt, said in a statement that that he's disappointed by the proposed plan but optimistic that a deal can be reached.
The other part of the re-zoning includes designating the prime amusement zone as city parkland and limiting the height of new buildings to equal the height of the 270 foot parachute jump. The next part is to open the plan up to public comment. The whole approval process is expected to take a year. For WNYC, I'm Kathleen Horan
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