Astroland To Astroturf

Because of course the YouTube demographic is closely aligned with the big-time New York City developer demographic:

A video posted on Coney Island developer Thor Equities’ Web site and YouTube last week has ruffled some fins out in the seaside neighborhood.

The clip, which opens and closes with the Mermaid Parade logo, features costumed revelers professing their love of Coney Island and the parade. Then, in the last few seconds, a woman wearing a Viking helmet slips in: “The spirit of Thor matches that of Coney Island!”

The woman was Digna Rodriguez, a Thor Equities employee.

The video was designed as goodwill promotional material and showcased the High Steppers, a Brooklyn-based marching band Thor Equities sponsored in the parade. Absent from the video were the many protesters who marched in the parade to “Save Coney Island.” Many fear Thor’s proposals to transform Coney Island into a year-round attraction with upscale hotels will wash away the local character(s).

And see what you get when you renege on plans to save some dumpy old building? They revoke your ability to mediate experiences on the internet:

“Thor has just been sent an email,” Dick Zigun of Coney Island USA, the group that runs the Mermaid Parade, wrote on his Web site, “informing them that they have NO PERMISSION to use the name or logo MERMAID PARADE within their FUTURE OF CONEY ISLAND logo such as they have done at the start and finish of the YOU TUBE piece.”

See also: “thorothunder”‘s Thor at Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade YouTube Video.

“Mount SI NY!” Just Sounded A Little Strange

I think the Rubenstein people might start by encouraging you to avoid mentioning that your biggest asset is a boat:

Intent on promoting Staten Island as a “great place to visit, work and live,” a group of the Island’s movers and shakers met last night to formally announce the creation of a marketing campaign designed to boost borough pride and erase negative stereotypes.

Under the banner of “SI NY Proud of it,” backers said their goal is to trumpet the Island as the place in New York City with the best schools, most parkland, lowest crime rate, an array of cultural offerings and diverse housing stock.

. . .

Not only is the Island still regarded in some quarters as the former home of the world’s largest landfill — poised to become the biggest urban park — but it is routinely underestimated by outside media, he said.

Along those lines, public relations giant Howard Rubenstein has agreed to promote the SI NY campaign.

Rubenstein’s Pat Smith, who will shepherd the effort, said the Island needs to “project a better image [so] people want to invest here, locate here.”

“Everything in life is perception,” agreed Borough President James P. Molinaro.

Molinaro said, for example, that while the Staten Island Ferry — with its 1.5 million visitors annually — is the No. 3 tourist attraction in New York City, behind the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, more needs to be done to lure them to local attractions like Snug Harbor Cultural Center and the Staten Island Zoo.

Where Some Borough Presidents Are Fond Of Press Conferences, Others Simply Like To Shop

Ooh, Nordstrom . . . so fancy:

The borough president who helped bring Trader Joe’s to Atlantic Avenue has set his sights on a new upscale target — a Nordstrom department store.

“Now that [Trader Joe’s] is done, we can go to the next one,” Borough President Markowitz told The Brooklyn Paper several days after leading a jubilant parade from Borough Hall to the Court Street bank building where the gourmet grocer is setting up its first Kings County store.

“Nordstrom would be awesome in Brooklyn. Now we have Trader Joe’s, Ikea, Whole Foods and all the other great retailers. That would complete it,” Markowitz said, still exuberant from his Joe’s victory lap.

The beep said he spent several years working to get the California-based purveyor of wasabi hummus and chicken dumplings to the corner of Court Street and Atlantic Avenue before last week’s announcement.

“My mother-and father-in-law, Joan and Jules Snow, would go to the Nassau County store and come back with chips and spreads that they couldn’t wait to bring out and show me,” he said. “I found out about Trader Joe’s and I started pitching,” he said.

. . .

Nordstrom does not have a New York City location. Most of the company’s stores — with their live pianists and marbled-floored restroom “lounges” — are in upscale shopping malls in the suburbs.

But Michael Boyd, a Nordstrom spokesman, said the company appreciated the borough president’s invitation.

“It’s very flattering,” he said. “We certainly appreciate the attention and are always happy to discuss new locations.”

Ah, but what locations? Retail experts said that finding a location for the high-end, mall chain could be tough in economically diverse, tightly packed Downtown Brooklyn.

“A Nordstrom would need the correct neighbors and something like a million square feet of retail space,” said Joseph Aquino, executive vice president for retail leasing and sales at Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Aquino said that Fulton Mall, once a mecca for white-gloved department stores and still home to Macy’s, was not quite fancy enough for Nordstrom.

“The retailers there are not the right neighbors,” he said.

(That makes me want to hear the Beep and Charles Barron debate. Darned term limits!)

Don’t We Need A New Name Now That The Actual Times Has Moved Over To Eighth Avenue?

The best way to answer criticism that Times Square has become too Disney-fied is to own it:

An MTA board member yesterday suggested turning to Mickey Mouse’s deep-pocketed owner — which transformed seedy Times Square into America’s backyard — to save straphangers from the doom and gloom of a 2008 fare hike.

Perhaps Disney would pay big bucks for some sort of control or advertising rights to the Times Square subway station, suggested MTA board member Norman Seabrook.

“I would rather try to sell 42nd St.’s subway system underground to Disney for $60 million a year and have them paint it any way that they want to paint it,” Seabrook said at a Metropolitan Transportation Authority board meeting.

“They spend $100 million for one minute to be on the Super Bowl on a Sunday. I think that they would spend X amount of dollars in rent for that terminal.”

If the MTA is going to consider a fare hike, Seabrook said, officials must “look at different areas of raising funds” to at least lessen the burden of an increase on riders.

Seabrook’s pitch got amused smiles from other board members, and Mayor Bloomberg dismissed it as a Mickey Mouse idea.

“Disney has a great presence in Times Square. It’s a great brand name, but let’s get serious,” Bloomberg said.

Do You Really Need A State-Of-The-Art 103-Inch High-Definition Television To Keep Track Of 311 Call Statistics And Pixelated Traffic Camera Feeds?

Of course you do! Of course you do:

Picture this — Mayor Bloomberg, a guy who rarely watches TV, now has the world’s largest high-definition plasma television adorning his famous “bullpen” at City Hall.

The 103-inch monster, which retails for $70,000, was donated by Panasonic and was on display yesterday as the bullpen re-opened after a two-week, $627,000 makeover.

“A lot of people from the NBA would have these in their homes,” said a proud Panasonic executive after posing for pictures with the mayor. He said the company hopes to sell 5,000 around the globe this year.

In addition to the usual news channels, the TV will display 311 call statistics and a video feed from NYC TV’s live traffic cameras.