July 1, Wed, 10 am: City Council Hearing on Coney Island Rezoning

(The City has a plan to fade Coney Island out of existence. Click to enlarge.)

Just up on Amusing the Zillion: There will be City Council hearing on the proposed shrinking of Coney Island next Wednesday. It’s been confirmed by “staffers in both Councilmember Avella’s and Katz’s offices.” Comments Amusing the Zillion:

. . . . the wording on the City Council website is incredibly opaque. It’s as if the powers that be would like to keep the public hearing an insider’s secret so that fewer people will show up. This calendar listing must have gone up today [June 24, 2009], because when I looked last night nothing was listed yet for July 1.

Sort of like the way that $180 million+ of additional one-way giveaways for Forest City Ratner (absolutely no quid pro quo give-backs by Ratner) were just approved by ESDC and the MTA with less than 48 hours prior disclosure about what the new terms were.

The Bloombergian machine (assisted on Atlantic Yards by the increasingly confused and foundering Governor Paterson) is certainly revved up to shove things down the public’s throat. Recently when writing about the machinations that pushed through the rigged Dock Street deal we put together a short list of just some of the things that were in the offing concerning Bloomberg’s sell-offs of the public realm. To wit, the now already outdated list we provided just weeks ago:

In the next couple of weeks the city will be making major decisions ranging from:

1. Selling off a portion of the Greenwich Village Historic District (to subsidize St. Vincent’s)- Tuesday at the Landmark’s Preservation Commission.

2. Selling off most of the Coney Island amusement district- City Planning Commission- June 17th. (A Don't Shrink Coney! Rally will be held in the City Hall Steps Wednesday June 10, 1 p.m.- Show up 12:30 p.m. to allow time to go through security.- A parade will follw.)

3. The City Economic Development Corporation has announced condemnation proceedings against Willets Point business and property owners while Article 78 challenge is still pending in court. (This is from a media advisory from Councilman Tony Avella.) EDC has also decided to do this before negotiating with property owners and after telling many of them that negotiations will not start for more than a year.- There will be a press conference and rally in opposition Monday, June 8th at 1:30pm at the Shea Gas Station 127-48 Northern Blvd, Willets Point, Queens.

4. Giving additional substantial additional benefits to Forest City Ratner for the degenerating Atlantic Yards, including giving it more of the MTA’s assets without a proper quid pro quo.- June 24 at both the MTA and the ESDC in synchronized meetings. (Does that sound like the fix is in?)- There will be a Community meeting on Atlantic Yards, June 9- 7 PM at Lafayette Avenue Church. 85 South Oxford Street, Ft. Greene

5. Sacrificing the iconocism of the Brooklyn Bridge for Dock Street- Next Wednesday, June 10th at the City Council.

(See: Sunday, June 7, 2009, A Lambda Night: City Political Candidates and Development (Focusing on Atlantic Yards and Dock Street).)

We figure it is meant to be too much to keep up with.

Enjoy the summer. The Bloomberg administration no doubt hopes the public will be spending its time on vacation or at the movies seeing action film summer blockbusters. We suggest that next Wednesday, rather than going to the beach, everyone show up to save that great seaside amusement community, historic Coney Island.

Five Noticing New York Posts As Background

Here are five recent Noticing New York Posts (which will in turn link to more) about how the City’s plan for Coney makes no sense if you are looking for inspiration for what you might want to say at the hearing:

Tuesday, May 12, 2009, The City to the Public: “We’ve Got Your Coney Island: If You Want It Back, Better Do Exactly As We Say. . ”

Saturday, May 16, 2009, City Is Rezoning So Coney Island’s Lower-Income Residents Will Have Place to Buy Back-to-School Shoes, Clothing and Stationery? Right. Sure Thing!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009, City Officials in Their Own Words on “Creating” a Coney Island Amusement Area: We Will Do Again What Hasn’t Worked Before

Tuesday, May 26, 2009, Who Took My 27 Acres? City Officials Confuse the Dialogue

Thursday, May 28, 2009, A Second, But Not Seconding, Opinion: A Stolerian Eyebrow Raised, Real Estate Professionals Say Coney Island Development Will Take “Generations”