“I have been actively discussing this [expanding the area available for open-air amusements] with the administration. Those discussions have been fruitful and are ongoing. I hope that by the time the entire City Council votes on this plan, on July 29th, I will have great news for everyone.”
– New York City Council Member Domenic M. Recchia, Jr.

MAS believes that Coney Island has extraordinary potential and we strongly support the City’s goals towards revitalizing it. Over the past year, we commissioned an economic study; convened a charrette (an intense design workshop) of entertainment experts; held an call for ideas; held numerous public meetings and workshops; and submitted extensive testimony and a massing study to the City.

Negotiations over the sale of privately owned land to the City and over the size of the outdoor amusement area at Coney Island are still ongoing. MAS recommended that the acreage for open-air amusements be expanded from 12 to 25 acres and that the high-rise hotels currently planned for the south side of Surf Avenue be moved to the north. To read The New York Times endorsement of our recommendations, click here.

If you agree that these recommendations are important, please contact your City Council Member before the scheduled vote this Wednesday, July 29. Click here to find your Council Member’s contact details.

The City Council is poised to vote on the City’s plan to rezone and revitalize Coney Island. MAS believes that Coney Island has extraordinary potential and we strongly support the city’s goals toward revitalizing it. Over the past year, MAS has been exploring how Coney Island – once the World’s Playground – can be revitalized.

We commissioned an economic study; convened a charrette (an intense design workshop) of entertainment experts; held an call for ideas; held numerous public meetings and workshops; and submitted extensive testimony and a massing study to the City. (keep reading to learn what you can do). Continue Reading>>

As the City Council prepares to vote on the Coney Island rezoning, The New York Times ran an editorial today urging its passage and at the same time supporting MAS’ recommendations to improve the plan.

“We like the Municipal Art Society’s idea of doubling the size of the amusement area and removing hotels from the south side of Surf Avenue. This way, when visitors get off the subway, they will meet sunlight and open air, not a high-rise barricade.”

MAS strongly support the City’s goals of revitalizing Coney Island, but believes the plan can be improved to make Coney Island the absolute best destination and benefit to the city it can be. Read The New York Times editorial in its entirety after the “continue reading” jump. Click here to read MAS’ statement to the City Council and see our massing study. Continue Reading>>

The City Council Land-Use Committee could be voting as soon as next week on the Coney Island rezoning.  MAS strongly supports the city’s goal of revitalizing Coney Island. We also strongly support the city’s efforts to acquire land to create a publicly-owned open-air amusement park,  which we believe is the best way to ensure amusements in perpetuity. We do, however, have recommendations to improve the plan, which are detailed in our full written testimony, which have submitted to the City Council along with a massing study (see slideshow below, or click here to download a PDF) prepared by our Planning Committee.

Vin Cipolla, the President of the Municipal Art Society of New York, today testified before the City Council, strongly supporting the city’s goals for Coney Island and suggesting improvements to the rezoning plan in the areas of urban design and preservation.

“I am here today to urge the Council to adopt the city’s plan for Coney Island — the city’s plan is the greatest hope for revitalizing Coney Island, which can not be lost to private development interests,” said Mr. Cipolla. “Coney Island is the last great oceanfront park land opportunity in the region — and Coney’s continued demise would be a tragic loss to the citizens of New York, to the country and to the world. MAS strongly believes that the city — that the public — must own enough land at Coney Island to ensure a vital amusements district.”

“We believe there is enormous opportunity in this area and we strongly support the city’s goals toward revitalizing Coney Island,” Mr. Cipolla added. Continue Reading>>

The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School for Design was the setting for the 2009 MASterwork Awards ceremony. The outstanding renovation/adaptive reuse of the Center was an exciting backdrop for honoring this year’s winners. Bob Kerry, President of the New School gave some welcoming remarks which were followed by the ceremony.  The video above captures the essence of each winner.

Each year, the Municipal Art Society honors the year’s top building projects for their excellence in architecture and urban design, and their contribution to New York’s built environment. For more information, visit www.mas.org/masterworks.

The ULURP clock for the Coney Island rezoning proposal is ticking. The City certified the zoning proposal in January, and from May until later this month, the City Planning Commission is conducting its review of the proposal. The Commission is likely to vote on the project very soon, after which the proposal will go to the City Council who must vote on the plan by mid-August.

MAS testified last month at the City Planning Commission’s public hearing, and shortly after we submitted detailed recommendations for the future of Coney Island. MAS strongly supports the city’s goal of revitalizing Coney Island. We also strongly support the city’s efforts to acquire land to create a publicly-owned open-air amusement park, based on an extensive economic study by real estate advisory firm RCLCo commissioned by MAS that concluded that this was the best way to ensure amusements in perpetuity. Continue Reading>>

Yesterday MAS testified before the City Planning Commission, voicing strong support for city’s goals for Coney Island and suggesting improvements to the rezoning plan in the areas of urban design, zoning and preservation. During the past several months MAS has worked with the staff of the Brooklyn Office of City Planning, amusement experts, and with Coney Island  community and cultural groups to identify the best ways to restore Coney Island to its position as a world-class amusement destination. Read our testimony in full here or our press release here.

Among MAS’s specific recommendations for improving the rezoning plan:

1. Ensure Surf Avenue has a low-rise South Side by moving the hotels to the North Side of Surf Avenue. Coney Island is first and foremost a seaside resort, and it’s critical to retain the sense of openness, views of the horizon and taller amusements. Continue Reading>>

As long as the 1.5 mile long Gowanus Canal in Southwest Brooklyn has been polluted, people and government agencies have sought solutions to the vexing problems posed by this artificially created waterway; and, through the decades community organizations have organized to clean up the canal’s water and adjacent land and to prevent further contamination. 

Most recently plans to reinvent and redevelop the Gowanus Canal area have collided over the potential registration of the Gowanus as a national Superfund site by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This potential designation, sought at the behest of New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation, recognizes the complexity of cleaning up the area due to the widespread presence of highly noxious toxins found both in the Canal’s water and abutting land. Continue Reading>>

There has been news coverage today on a reported compromise between the Navy Yard and the National Guard regarding the Admiral’s Row buildings in Brooklyn. Purportedly, only two of the eleven buildings will be retained.

Lisa Kersavage, MAS Director of Advocacy and Policy said in a public release, “If the reported compromise on the future of the Admiral’s Row buildings is true we are deeply disappointed because the majority of these buildings could and should be saved. We will continue fighting to save these important structures.”

It is not necessary to demolish the buildings in order to build on the site. MAS developed 11 alternative plans that that meet the Navy Yard’s program for a grocery store and retail (see rendering above left) and industrial space while allowing for the restoration and reuse of the historic buildings. Kersavage added, “If there is to be a compromise, it should be with the size of the 356-car parking lot, and not come at the expense of preserving these significant American treasures.” 

The buildings are in the midst of a federally-mandated Section 106 process, which provides the public with the opportunity to comment on the buildings’ demolition and to suggest alternatives that could prevent or mitigate the demolition of the historic structures.