EDC Danes To Leverage Its Control Over Coney Island

Would you prefer Joe Sitt or Tivoli Gardens? I mean, Coney Island and Copenhagen are close to each other in the dictionary, but that’s about it:

Robert Lieber, president of the city’s Economic Development Corp., flew to Copenhagen last week with other top agency officials to meet with representatives from Tivoli Gardens.

The meeting, he said, was both about Tivoli’s preliminary interest in Coney Island and to learn from the success of the 164-year-old amusement park on how best to transform Coney’s amusement district into a year-round attraction.

He said a Tivoli branch in Coney Island could work without giving up the area’s famous freakiness, adding Tivoli officials promised a future visit.

“We aren’t trying to create Disneyland in Coney Island, but we’re trying to create a demand-oriented model that maintains the neighborhood’s character and economic interests,” Lieber said.

Tivoli, which has more than 20 rides and famous gardens, features the world’s tallest carousel and a 93-year-old wooden roller coaster, called the Rutsjebanen, that is slightly older than Coney Island’s Cyclone.

. . .

With the city planning to rezone Coney Island’s amusement district this year to help future development, Lieber said he’s still not satisfied with developer Joe Sitt’s proposal to build a $1.5 billion hotel-entertainment complex in the heart of the amusement district.

Lieber pointed out that Tivoli is successful year-round without the onsite condos, time-shares or hotels that Sitt has pushed for, despite Denmark’s cold winters and the park’s many outdoor rides and attractions.

“They’ve learned to think outside the box and continuously reinvent themselves,” said Lieber. “They’ve made Halloween a weeklong event and have a two-week event centered around Christmas.”

With Sitt controlling 10 acres of prime boardwalk real estate, both he and City Hall will have to reach a compromise or risk Coney Island remaining stagnant.

The city could theoretically try taking Sitt’s land through eminent domain, but Lieber said he’s “not ready to go there” when asked about condemnation.

(Using eminent domain against a developer . . . now that would be a hoot!)

Location Scout: Coney Island Amusement Core.