Save The Freak

The shopping mall, it seems, was just the beginning. Last week the city unveiled its full plan to "revitalize" Coney Island into a "flashy year-round entertainment destination" that will be "a cross between Las Vegas and Disneyland."

That means a new hotel and spa, sidewalk cafes on the boardwalk, a movie theater, a bowling alley, a gym, a pool, a "multicultural center," fancy restaurants, a covered midway and, of course, the shopping mall. It also means the razing of most everything that's down there now, with the possible exception of the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel, which they'll keep around for the "nostalgia" crowd.

Let's think about all these proposed improvements for a second. What's the wisdom, for instance, behind building a swimming pool at a beach? Why put something like a movie theater and bowling alley in a place where, for over a century, New Yorkers have gone to be outside? Why build a "multicultural center" when Coney already is a living, breathing, fluid and vibrant multicultural center all by itself? And since they apparently haven't looked recently, City Council members should know that the Boardwalk is already lined with sidewalk cafes, in the form of park benches with a great view of the ocean.

There was a very revealing paragraph in the Daily News account of the plan. After admitting that there are a few people out there who think the plan will kill Coney, turning it into just one more faceless, sterile, corporate tourist trap, the following ran:

"Advocates of the plan say similar arguments sought to preserve the peep shows on W. 42nd St., which has now been transformed into one of the city's brightest jewels."

"Brightest jewels" for whom? Not for New Yorkers, certainly. For tourists-specifically, tourists with money. And that seems to be the plan for Coney, which has traditionally been a place where working people could spend a day and have a great time on little or no money at all.

It's no surprise that the man behind the plan is Joshua Sirefman, president of the Coney Island Development Corp. and deputy mayor Daniel Doctoroff's chief of staff. How long will it be before Sirefman, City Council and a cabal of developers decide that the beach down there is just a useless and sandy waste of space? After all, if we have a nice swimming pool, what would we need a beach for?