Sunday, June 13, 2010

CONEY ISLAND'S SURF AVENUE


Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal

Coney Island's Surf Avenue is drawing interest from commercial developers and amusement-park operators..For decades, many New Yorkers stayed as far away from Coney Island as possible. But that's starting to slowly change as plans to revitalize the decrepit area begin to unfold.
Coney Island, long dubbed the "people's playground," sprawled over nearly 60 acres along Brooklyn's Atlantic waterfront in 1910. After decades of decline, the area had shrunk by last summer to just three acres of active amusement attractions.
Now it's expanding again. Plans unveiled by the city and private developers in early 2009 call for a 27-acre district that Includes a 12-acre amusement park as well as other entertainment venues, parks, hotels and retail space.
While it's expected to take as long as 10 years before the redevelopment is completed, the first phase—the resurrection of Luna Park, a 3.1-acre amusement park with 19 new rides—is already drawing new visitors to the area since opening over Memorial Day weekend. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703302604575295054245631326.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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