In short, opposition to Thor’s plan have been centered around the firm’s plan for as many as a 1,000 hotel rooms and 500,000 square feet of retail space including some big boxes. Alternative suggestions for Coney Island range from “three or four wind in your face rides” to an “eye-popping” attraction akin to the London Eye – not bad suggestions but clearly the product of observers that lack a real sense of the historic Coney Island, let alone what is requires to make the redevelopment an economic success.

To be sure, Coney Island will obviously have rides and a dramatic center piece, but size and the newest form of exhilaration hardly made Coney Island special in the first place, nor will they return Coney Island to its glory. It is clear that the current alternative visions to Thor’s plans retreat to a gimmicky skyline of twist-and-spin steel thrill rides, favored by a small percentage of the market. What is missing is the essence of the place where one is immersed into a world unlike any other amusement park, be it Disney or Six Flags.

That said, come next spring Andrew Lloyd Webber will present his vision of Coney Island, circa 1907 with Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera. Let’s hope that Lloyd Weber’s vision changes the discourse to a more intimate Coney Island where one’s imagination is illuminated at a more intimate scale rather than a pile of twisting metal that looks like the junk yard from Cats.

Share and Enjoy:

]]>