So what does the future hold for Coney Island?
Well, a big crowd showed up tonight for a "Community Information Session" on the proposed Coney Island zoning. The purpose of the meeting was to begin a community dialogue about the proposal.
But the public didn’t get to hear about the state-of-the-art amusement parks, rides, hotels, bowling alleys, restaurants, parks, and whatever else is planned for that historic part of Brooklyn.
That’s because the meeting about the future of Coney Island at Coney Island Hospital was abruptly cancelled due to the size of the crowd.
Were they expecting a small crowd? That doesn’t make sense. This is a very controversial matter, a very emotional matter, a very big deal in Brooklyn.
They organizers plan to reschedule the meeting in a larger venue sometime in the near future. I’m sure they can find someplace, that will hold 400-500 people interested in hearing about the plan, asking questions, and giving feedback.
For more information and pix go to Kinetic Carnival.
I was at the meeting before that held at our lady of solace and it was very clear that anyone interested in attending the FIRST of a series of information sessions, to ensure that everyone gets a chance to be present, should rsvp and because space was limited this meant it was on a first come first serve basis to those who really wanted to go. Most of the people who showed up last night at the hospital have not showed up to ANY of the meetings since public outreach on this subject has started. So where were they two weeks ago and at the meeting in Williamsburg and the Astroland protest? They were protesting against who knows what since these meetings are just about PROPOSALS, not done deal plans with the city and it wasn’t fair to those of us who were trying to go about working calmly and civily with the people who’s ball is in their court at this time. Rights are rights but if the people who care enough about this matter want any efforts to hear their wishes and fears, they are going to screw it up for themselves by just being plain ride and unruly. We were standing in a hospital where people were sick and dying, it was very selfish to hear these people yell that they didn’t care about that, just because they felt they should be there. If everyone keeps fighting against one another and trying to work things out in a professional and organized fashion, all hopes for the locals will really be lost. This subject matters a great deal to me. As someone who’s father loved going to CI back in the 70’s in his truck to make deliveries and someone who had felt since 7th grade they belong in Brooklyn but lives in Philly, I left work early to make sure I’d get to this meeting on time so I could make some suggestions about ways they could revive the park without ruining it and even though I did my part and rsvp’d, my entire trip was wasted, not to mention the small speech I planned to make. They should have held this session in a bigger place, but what is the big deal about following order and just waiting for the next session? Atleast, unlike Thor Equities, someone is willing to talk to the people about ideas. This is the time when it’s most crucial for the people to fight against unwanted development plans that will just push out the people who have held that neighbourhood together all these, I’m so afraid developers and the city will just up and do what they want when they get tired of people giving them a hard time and breaking safety laws (like blocking exits in a hospital and entrances where sick ppl are being rushed in) rather than trying to form an organized group of orderly community people. Persistance and voicing of opinions is right, but acting like stubborn children who don’t even know the full story is not going to win anyone any kind of serious attention or consideration.