Protecting Coney Island’s amusements
Today I joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg to announce that the city has signed a contract with Thor Equities to acquire 6.9 acres of land in Coney Island to expand the amusement district and bring it into the 21st century, while retaining the history of this iconic neighborhood. The city will use the land to create a 12.5-acre outdoor amusement park, part of 27 acres of amusements and entertainment.
This is a major step toward fulfilling the promise we made to Coney Island when we passed the rezoning plan over the summer. With the acquisition of this land, we will have the ability to create a top-class entertainment destination that’s open year-round, provides jobs to the people in the community and continues to draw people from around the world.
I would like to thank the Bloomberg administration and Thor Equities for working together to achieve an agreement that will ensure we can move forward. We are truly on the cusp of an exciting new day for Coney Island.
This, together with nearly 5,000 new units of housing, 25,000 construction jobs and 6,000 permanent jobs, is planned to generate more than $14 billion in economic activity for New York City over the next three decades.
