Sitt Disses Coney's Historic Buildings
After getting roundly criticized for the
After getting roundly criticized for the ugliness and characterless-ness of his new designs for a temporary entertainment complex along Surf Avenue in Coney Island, Thor Equities head Joe Sitt mouthed off yesterday to NY1 about the old buildings he planned to tear down along Surf Avenue. “Every one of these buildings is just horrible, rundown relics with nothing exciting about them, he told NY1. I hate to say it, but the great buildings of Coney Island disappeared 80 years ago.” Others would beg to differ: On the eve of the opening of Luna Park 2.0, the group Save Coney Island is trying to draw attention to the imminent destruction of the old buildings under Thor’s control, including Grashorn Building, the Henderson Music Hall and the Shore Hotel. Luna Park is laying the groundwork for an exciting summer,” said the group’s spokesman in a statement, “while a block away Thor is planning to lay waste to Coney Island’s heritage, threatening to ruin all at once the area’s past, present, and future. Update: On a related note, check out the time-lapse video on the jump of Luna Park getting built over recent weeks.
Developer Outlines Vision For Coney Island [NY1]
Luna Park: Three Days and Counting [Brownstoner]
The Gutting of the Henderson Begins [Brownstoner]
Thor Reveals Souless Vision for Surf Avenue [Brownstoner]
Thor and City Close on Coney Island Deal [Brownstoner]
I think the buildings that the Save Coney Island people are lobbying for should be saved. It’s four or so buildings, all with history relating to CI. The head of the Mermaid Parade said on the SCI site that there is more preserved of Ancient Rome than Coney Island. He has a point.
Creative re-use and re-purposing!!! Why is that such a hard concept for developers to wrap their pointy heads around? Others above are right, Sitt builds strip malls. That’s why he has piles of money. The Save Coney people don’t expect to have CI in a time warp, but why not save some of the buildings that helped make the place the mecca of the masses it was for over a century. The original Luna Park is gone, Dreamland is long gone, the grand hotels and dance palaces are gone. Let’s save something, and incorporate it into a new 21st century CI that can last another 100 years. A gaudy strip mall ain’t it.
Mr. Sitt;
I salute your candor.
I sincerely doubt that readers of The Real Deal care a fig about preserving anything, so I wouldn’t take their comments as a representative sample of feelings about these buildings. But I agree – better anything (even “eyesores”) than Sitt’s strip mall rendering featuring thinly-disguised Taco Bell, Burger King, and T-Mobile stores.
As Minard says it’s about the beach/boardwalk. Better to knock down the eyesores than keep them up. Ever go into philly on the train, it’s depressing to see a whole bunch of buildings just waiting for a stiff wind to cause them to collapse.
Sitt has never built anything, he is a leasing king. A vacant lot is more attractive to the national retailers (think Sprint cellphone stores and Dunkin Donuts) that are his stock and trade. I agree there is little of architectural value to these buildings, but I prefer them to a Florida style strip mall which I fear is likely to be built.
if you read the comments on therealdeal.com website…seems pretty obvious the buildings will not be missed.
Even I have to agree that the old buildings along Surf Avenue are honky-tonk junk. Coney Island is about the beach, which is fabulous, and the rides, and the hot dogs. I am glad the Landmarks Commission is protecting the Cyclone, the parachute jump, the wonderful Wonder Wheel, and the beautiful decrepit old restaurant building along the boardwalk. The only possible other building worth saving is the Shore Theater, but its restoration would cost many millions.