ZIPPER: Coney Island's Last Wild Ride (2012) - full transcript

We always call it a she.

She's okay, she's running good

Jane? How's she doing?

She's okay.

Every year I used to put it up.

All freshly painted, ready to go.

Lines used to just form
for the people to ride on.

They used to love it.

Every fair, wherever you go.

There's a Zipper.

You gotta have it.



A lot of fairs have it
because it's a high ride.

People can see it from far away.

A zipper like the top ride on the circuit.

At the time, like the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Everybody used to stand there

and just watch the Zipper.

Everyone would just come
and stand there and look up.

It's like they were riding the ride

because they were screaming just as much

as the people that were
in the cars screaming.

I remember when they see the
ride come in the first time.

Them thinking, "What the hell is that?"

It was like a combination of the Sky Wheel,

and it had the cars
almost like the Skydiver.



It was very fascinating.

If you have somebody that
knows how to mess with the ride.

Give you a nice ride.

That's the real, that shit
gets your adrenaline going.

I'm gonna die!

Oh my God.

Oh my God!

I was born and raised in Coney Island.

And I started working
the amusement business

when I was about 12-13 years old.

I was a go-fer boy.

Getting stuff for the
bosses and the workers.

Then I worked in the dark rides.

Scaring people in the
little haunted houses.

Then I worked in a go-kart
track as a mechanic.

Then I became the manager of the track.

You have a lot of people
that live in Coney Island

that actually worked in the amusement park.

There was a lot of gangs
out here back then.

A lot of problems.

Wasn't the safest place
to visit, but people came.

Eddie and I, we knew each
other since we were small.

And we just grew up together.

We became like blood cousins.

Good morning.

Joey,

Larry,

Jay, and Don,

guys that I grew up doning Coney Island,

since they were kids.

A lot more than 30 years ago.

I know him since, God, about 1978.

He used to work on the go-karts next door,

and I worked on the Wonder Wheel.

I used to work on the Himalaya
for the twins in the 70s.

John had to know they
used to see him everyday

coming to work with his
little white T-shirt.

Those little shirts,

and he used to come in there and...

We'll I'm half Italian.

See back in the day I knew all the owners

and all the workers.

Cause that's how we were
when we were younger.

We always hung out together.

Astroland and 12 street, Wonder Wheel,

Stillwell Avenue, El Dorado.

All the workers hung out with each other.

Eddie called one day and
he said he bought a Zipper.

If I knew anything about it.

I said, "Look, I know
enough to get me by."

I'm not gonna lie to you and say,

"Yeah, I know how to put it
together, take it apart, no"

So, he's like, "Alright, fuck it."

We put it together and
we do what we have to do.

And that first winter I worked with him,

and we put lights on it.

We froze ass that first winter.

The ride was really beat up when we got it,

and we put a lot of money into it.

A lot of love, a lot of
cleaning and painting.

Thousands of dollars worth of parts

that had to be changed.

We made it to a workable ride.

Everybody always used to comeover,

"This is the best ride in Coney Island."

Coney Island, is the party over.

Legendary amusement park

is a little bit run-down after more

than 100 years in business.

It's the kind of place you
don't expect to ever change,

but now condo developers

are salivating over its famed boardwalk.

Land developers have gobbled up

huge chunks of real estate here,

without saying much about what's to come.

A carnival and clams
atmosphere that could very well

be swept away by the tide of progess.

It was a rumor that was
going around for years

before it actually happened.

That there was a company looking
into buying the whole area.

First we thought it was Disney.

Come and build one of their big parks.

Then we found it wasn't Disney.

A lot of the rumors going back and forth.

I mean that the place was gonna

be bought up to build condos,
not an amusement park.

Then we heard it was gonna be a big,

huge indoor amusement park.

As the years went by we continued
to hear the same stories

that properties were being looked at.

And, finally it came true.

Our little spots started to be bought up.

And that's when the park
started to fall apart.

Save Coney Island, save Coney Island,

Save Coney Island, save Coney Island,

Save Coney Island, save Coney Island.

Save Coney Island, save Coney Island.

I come to you today with
sand in my shoes and salt.

I'm still salty from the
swim I took this morning.

Where?

In Coney Island!

In Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.

Why can we not keep the old Coney Island

that we all know and love.

I don't know.

No condos, no bullshit, alright?

Condos or cotton candy?

That's the reality facing

many longtime Coney Island residents.

Developer, Thor Equities,
wants the city to rezone

parts of the historic amusement district

to allow for condominiums.

Developers want to build timeshare units,

water park, restaurants,
shops, movie theaters,

and hotels there, but the new plan

is still facing some criticism.

City officials and residents
are worried towering apartments

and luxury condos would destroy

the character of the waterfront.

What we do not want to have happen,

is to have condominium
development for the well-to-do.

To have a great, white
sand, south facing beach

as their own playground.

Thor Equities wants to invest $2 billion

in creating a vacation destination

similar to Vegas or Orlando.

People are going to complain.

When poor people can't
live in Coney Island,

they can't live in New York.

It's one of the last
places we can still live.

I can see if it was something

that we can all actually benefit from it.

But it seems as though the haves

are gonna benefit more than the have nots.

It is where a family can go
and enjoy themselves for a day

without maxing out their credit card.

We have enough malls,
enough condo developments,

enough McDisney Coke-a-lands.

We don't need it.

We need to keep this alive.

To celebrate all the individual lunatics

that make New York the reason

all these people wanna bring their money.

What is going on at Coney Island?

Who is Joe Sitt?

Joe Sitt, he's known
mainly for building malls.

He is a developer who
likes to let people know

that he's from Brooklyn,
he's a hometown boy.

Folks around Brooklyn
call me Joey Coney Island.

If I call up a restaurant, if
I go to Lou Collie's Pizza,

a lot of the downtown to Fire...,

I'll go in and if I make a
reservation I'll go inside

and I'll say, "Joey Coney Island's here."

It's a name from years and years ago

that stuck, so to speak.

And all the more so with our
activity in Coney Island.

Am I allowed to put it down now?

Yeah.

Good, thanks, it's a heavy sucker.

I was a comic book collecter as a kid,

Was nostalgic collector of old

and interesting comic book characters.

One of them that they never
quite focused on was Thor.

And the concept of the Nordic God Thor

was that he was a protector
of the planet Earth

from the evil goblins.

And he was the guy that was protecting

all the buildings in the city, so to speak.

Myself as a city dweller,

somebody who was born and
raised in Brooklyn, New York,

I kinda liked the whole
concept of what that was about.

The character was really consistent

which what was the theme of our company.

Protecting the old and bringing it back

and restoring it to new.

His controversial plans wold be leveling

these old buildings, including
Henderson Music Hall,

where Harpo Marx made his musical debut.

He's erasing history, it's
not just an amusement park.

It is an amusement park,

but this is the founder
of all amusement parks

that are had in today.

Walt Disney came to talk to the Tilyou's.

They were way ahead of the time.

Nobody believes in it,

it's forgotten about, you say Coney Island,

the word doesn't mean anything anymore.

I thought it would be a
great project to polish up

this brand and bring it back alive,

and get New Yorkers to
care about Coney Island.

Save Coney Island, save Coney Island

Save Coney Island, save Coney Island.

Can you tell me what you paid

and what you ended up with at the end?

It's so many parcels that
I purchased over the years.

From so many stakeholders.

I don't know, I can't say the numbers.

I don't have it off the top of my head.

I'd have to check to a piece of paper

and add it up with a calculator.

He has paid about $150 million

to buy land in Coney Island.

In anticipation of a zoning change

which would obviously increase
the value of the land.

What's the problem with that?

City Hall just does not like him.

He was this history of being a flipper.

I was a real estate investment banker

at Lehman Brothers for 23 years.

So, I respect Joe Sitt.

I think he's a very smart guy, and I think

he's done well from what
I know for his investors.

Having some expierence in
the real estate business

I would also tell you that one
of the most speculative areas

that you can invest in in
the real estate spectrum,

is land and then unentitled land.

Unentitled land is probably
the most speculative

assest class in the real estate

investment arena of anything.

Coney Island has a unique zoning.

It's called C7.

It allows only certain types of amusements

to be built on the land.

Thor made a bet that this area

was not going to remained zoned

as it's currently zoned forever.

And so, it has been buying
up the land in an attempt

to assemble development parcels.

He probably thought the
city was gonna go with them.

They gonna zone the
property for their benefit.

You have to ask yourself,

what do you they think that
they're going to be building

on the land that they've bought.

And the only thing that really makes sense,

in the amusement district,

at the prices that they're paying,

are condominiums and big-box retail.

To a great degree at our cost of land,

amusements was a loss.

So the concept was, having
a little bit of residents.

We're talking 200 residents.

We're sort of, our way,
creating an economic driver

for one to pay for the other.

What's wrong with that?

That's helping, it's not
just economic driver,

it's helping advance
communities and neighborhoods

that would be left for
dead like Coney Island.

Before 2007, people were coming down there.

People were making money.

People were spending money.

Place was always packed.

As long as the weather agreed,

people were always down there.

Everybody came down.

We had all kinds of
different people coming down.

Trains open up and everybody came out.

After 2007, properties were being sold

and everybody's being pushed out.

A lot of the games are closed up,

a lot of the food stands are closed up.

A lot of the stuff that
was down there are gone.

When we lost Astroland,

that was a big crush to the whole place.

After 46 years
of calling Coney Island home,

Astroland is tearing down and
packing up its rides for good.

Its owners says they
could not come to terms

with developer Thor Equities
over a lease extension.

Co-owner Carol Hill Albert says

the developer forced her hand.

And gave her no choice but to shut down.

It could be bulldozed
and boarded up and darkened

and that's gonna really hurt

the remaining businesses in Coney Island.

You still have a lot of people coming down.

A lot of people in shock of what they see.

Thor Equities says that they wanna

do the right thing by Coney Island

and the amusement district.

I hope that that's true.

I think if you look at
some of their actions,

it's hard to reconcile with that.

This is what the what in my opinion.

He came down like a Hercules,

and he comes down and just
wants to throw everybody out.

It's down to nothing now.

The go-karts are gone.

The Batting Range is gone.

For now it's just gonna look
like a big ass empty lot.

It'll be used for fucking parking now.

We've always maintained the position,

a very public position,
that it is in our mind,

premature to have vacated or evicted

any of those operators.

It created vacant lots
and blight conditions.

And that was, to us, really problematic

in how people view Coney Island.

Now I can't explain why
Thor Equities did that.

You'd have to ask them.

If you let me take out my Blackberry,

I'll tell you some of the tenants

that we had interest in
bringing into Coney Island.

Ripley's Believe It or Not,

Dave & Buster's,

T-Rex that dinosaur concept, Bubba Gump,

Hard Rock Live,

GameWorks,

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory,

Cold Stone Creamery,

Howie's Game Shack,

just lots and lots of interesting folks.

He's done this all
around the country before,

you know that right?

Well and...

He made big malls in Edmonton, Canada,

all over Minnesota.

But he also has a reputation
about buying property

and letting it go into waste.

You know what stinks?

When I started this, nobody
was out there with me.

I always told people we could
revitalize Coney Island.

Make the housing developments
better than what they are.

Keep the amusement district,

but also bring in other
businesses, bring in jobs.

So when I ran for City Council in 2001,

this was my whole agenda.

And I won, and I was the lone dark horse.

No one ever thought I was gonna win.

And I set my plan in progress.

2002 I got elected, and at that time there

was an economic push for building

on city property and devloping,

but Coney Island was never
in the original plans.

No one even thought about Coney Island.

And then,

what's my opinion,

I think the Bloomburg
administration realized

that they have an opportunity,

and they saw an opportunity.

This could coincide with their agenda.

One of the things that
the Bloomburg administration

has done since coming into office,

has been to look around
the city at various areas

that are underdeveloped.

To try to revive other
economic development engines.

Coney Island is a perfect example of that.

92 rezonings have been
adopted by the City Council.

92 rezonings proposed by the
department of City Planning.

These aren't one or two or three blocks,

each one is about 100 blocks,

or more than 100 blocks.

There's an enormous spectrum

of economic development initiatives

which really has to do with up-zoning,

and chaning the zoning to
encourage private investment.

This week Mayor Bloomburg unveiled his own

redevelopment plan for Coney Island.

One that he says will
transform the boardwalk,

without scrapping some of
its most famous landmarks.

When people around the
nation, or the world,

hear the words, Coney Island.

They think of fun in the sun.

High-tech, high-glitz,

Coney Island would be reborn
as a year-round destination.

Under a sweeping new plan
proposed by the mayor.

We all recognize that Coney Island

isn't just what it could be.

It's fair to say that its
amusements haven't kept pace

with changing times and taste.

For much of the year, activity
in the area lags badly.

But rather than focus on

the faded glory of Coney Island's past,

or the unfilled potential of its present.

I think what we have to do is look at

how we can create a better future.

There could be a year-round
water park and hotel

with slides, rides,

and awesome year-round aquatic attractions.

As well as a wide variety
of restaurants and shops

to fit every budget and
satisfy every taste.

Growth is coming from private development

and private investment is flowing

because city government has worked

with local communities to cast off

outdated zoning restrictions.

Let's take a look at our framework

for rezoning Coney Island.

It's a vision that includes
major new opportunities

for retailing and thousands
of new housing units.

We propose to map 15 acres of Coney East

as new city parkland.

And the effect of this would be dramatic.

We're also going to find a
dynamic developer and manager

to whom the city would lease

the amusement park area in Coney Island.

And that's exactly what
the amusement operators

in Coney Island have needed for many years.

We hope to achieve a win-win
outcome for each of them.

Rezoning really is essential
to realizing this Coney Island.

The zoning is gonna change.

The zoning will definitely change.

The question is how do we go about it.

They could go ahead and say
we wanna rezone this parkland,

but if the city does not own the property,

they can't make it parkland.

You can't make something
that you don't own.

Yeah, we have to work that out.

Dan, you wanna...

What we mean by a developer is a developer

who has real world class
experience in developing

a one in a kind, completely unique,

something that pays homage to the history

of Coney Island amusement area.

It's a very different business
building a shopping center

than it is building a great amusement area.

The land use has become a very

let's say athletic-political sport.

What did the city do this week.

It was a bombshell...

A bombshell?

I don't think anyone really expected...

The city said its searching

for a new developer to
lease the amusement area.

Challenging the role of current developer,

Joe Sitt of Thor Equities.

The city has decided they're going to turn

a big portion of that area into parkland.

And find one amusement/concession area.

Someone like a Disney or a...

Someone with experience.

Nobody, including the city, nobody cared

about Coney Island.

It took us spending millions
and millions of dollars

on architectural drawings
and desinged plans

to help the city have a vision

of what Coney Island could be again.

It was the city that told Thor Equities,

do what you have to do
to make the plan work.

And they asked about the condos,

said, "Put in everything you want,

"then we'll work from there."

The amusement park must
be next to the boardwalk.

It absolutely has to be
next to the boardwalk.

And Thor owns that property.

They city has to take control of it

by mapping it as parkland.

And then it has to acquire it.

The city says it's working on a deal

to buy up 10 and a half
acres of real estate.

The land is owned by developer Joe Sitt.

Is this city going to spend

hundreds of millions of dollars
to pay for Joe Sitt's land?

I don't understand how this works.

In other words, a guy
buys land in Coney Island,

they city doesn't wanna work with him.

So they say you know what
we're gonna get rid of you,

we're gonna bring in one of our guys.

Joe Sitt doesn't wanna sell it.

We have also been told now

that eminent domain will not be used.

But you tell me Rich
Calder, a veteran reporter,

how the city can acquire land

if a land owner doesn't want to sell it.

That is a very good question, Girsch.

And, I don't know of another way.

If the city can't acquire it,

then Thor is only able to build

according the the C7 zoning.

Folks talk about, are we
builders or are we destroyers?

If you take a look at one
of the only large sites

I still don't own, it's owned
50% by the City of New York.

You know what's there now?

Vacant weeds growing.

You know what's been there five years ago?

Vacant weeds.

10 years ago, 15 years ago,
20 years ago, 30 years ago,

it's just vacant for decades.

So, the only thing Joe Sitt
hasn't touched is just vacant.

The city in the past has
made mistakes in Coney Island.

What's going on right now?

It's like history, like
I said, repeating itself.

This happened years ago with the Trumps.

I grew up in Coney Island.

We used to spend our summers
in Steeplechase Park.

I remember being with my father

the last day in Steeplechase Park

and turning around to him and saying,

"Daddy, why are they doing this?

"Why are they taking away all the rides?"

And he turned around to me,

he says, "Because someone
bought the property.

"They're gonna build housing."

They knocked down the park,

but they never built the housing.

So, when we first came to Coney Island

and spoke about wanting to do

a strategic plan for Coney
Island and let them know about

this administration's
commitment for Coney Island.

I want Coney out, that's
what you're thinking.

It was not an easy first set of meetings.

The city is not in the
business of doing amusements.

What we're doing in Coney
Island is a huge risk.

We build mixed-use projects,
affordable housing.

We build parks, public projects.

They don't teach amusements in college.

This is a work in progress.

This is a commitment to
work with the community

and to have Thor import.

It is a people's paradise
and it has to stay that way.

The boardwalk and the
beach unite everybody.

The amusement district

and the people who live in Coney Island.

This is a very large rezoning.

It's a very complicated
one compared to others

that City Planning may have done elsewhere.

This is big money for the city,

not just in tourism, but in...

And the taxes from all the
housing that's gonna be there,

the population growth that
we can accomodate there,

the retail, not just the tourists.

The legacy of Coney
Island belongs to everyone.

Where they lived in New
York and made memories.

The Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel.

The redevelopment, we want it.

We need it, our kids wanna see it.

I pray that I live long enough to see it.

I do think the designation of any parkland

for amusements is a mitzvah.

And want to work with
you in the coming battle

in the City Council and
I know I will be called

down to speak on behalf of the city's plan.

And I want to do that with enthusiasm.

I love to hear what people really dream of.

What they really want,

but then being a city
official, I have to also look

at the broad needs of the city.

Whether it's more jobs, more housing,

more economic development,

I have to try to balance city-wide needs

with those very engaged

community based desires and aspirations.

My landlord claimed we was
never gonna sell the place.

He actually told me that he told them

that they could build around him.

We just got the notices in the mail

that they were the new owners,

and that we had to leave the
property by a certain time.

And that was pretty much it.

Last ride, let's go.

Five dollars.

Yeah, we got five dollars.

Last people ever to ride.

Anybody wanna ride?

Last ride, let's go.

That's the last ride.

If you're gonna go you have to go now.

It's safe right?

Cause I know somebody
that flew off this shit.

It's safe.

Alright.

Hold on to your glasses, cell phones,

hold on to these bars up
here, enjoy your ride.

You are part of history.

Ow! Ow!

You alright?

Enjoy your ride

Watch your head.

That's right, I was not scared.

Last one, goodnight.

Visitors to Coney Island will no longer

be able to enjoy two of the rides.

The Spider and Zipper have
been closed down for good.

And the suggestion in the story in the Post

is that there is more ahead as the efforts

to redevelop much of
Coney Island move ahead.

I think my days of Coney
Island are pretty much all over.

It's sad.

We always figured it was gonna take

years and years and years before

they actually did anything there.

I figured we coulda been
there a couple more years

while they settled their problems.

It's very easy for people to
point the finger at the city

as the culprit for contributing
to the recent decline,

but the reality is that the
decline was there long before

we ever came to the table with
the idea of doing a rezoning.

I think the ultimate
proof is my track record.

Our passion is to be more
visionist and preservationist.

And if somebody wants to
call that speculation,

yes, what does speculation mean?

Somebody who invested
something to make a profit.

If we can make a profit while

being preservationists, so to speak.

And bring things back to life

that were grand in the old days,

and bring them back in their
authentic state again today.

Well, then I'd say I'm proud

to be a preservationist speculator.

If you really wanna try and preserve,

and enhance, and leverage the
iconic nature of Coney Island,

our view is the best way to do that

is to preserve the amusements

by keeping them on parkland

and change some of the uses of land

that surrounds the area.

Two thirds of the development
that we're proposing

would have nothing to
do with the amusements.

It's nothing that I
would have ever expected,

the whole parkland concept,
but it turned out it was

an economic driven thing for the city.

To the west of the KeySpan baseball stadium

is a big parking lot.

That is actually mapped as parkland.

We looked at that land
and saw an opportunity

to increase the value of the
underlying land by rezoning.

The state requires you
that if you take parkland out

of the system you have to
find replacement parkland

within the area of the
equivalent amount acre by acre.

So we've targeted here,
Coney East, the amusement area,

as the place that will move

that parkland over to the east side.

The problem is that the
city doesn't own the land.

I'm the City Council member.

I'm the one that has to show leadership.

I'm the one that has to be
able to stand up to people

and say we have to meet
somewhere in the middle.

I'm not gonna be a 100% happy

at the end of the day with this plan.

But you know what?

It's gonna be the best that we did

as a community and as a
city for Coney Island.

You know for all the
conflict that was involved,

if you look at mine and look

at their amusement park side by side,

you'll be hard pressed to
find much of a difference.

Only the city can make sure

it's the kind of amusement
park that Coney Island is.

That it is has these
fun, unexpected things.

It has old and crazy,

and Shoot the Freak and everything in there

that we've always expected.

It's not a Six Flags.

It's not some slick amusement park.

It's Coney Island.

If we were successful enough
to turn in to Six Flags?

What is Six Flags?

It's an unbelievable amusement ride park

with lots of good games
and foods and cotton candy

and clowns and cartoon characters.

I can't figure out what would be so bad

to have a gigantic amusement
park a la Six Flags over there.

It never can be a gated amusement park.

It has to be beach
boardwalk, open amusements.

Nowhere did we ever
say that we were opposed

to an open landscape urban environment.

And in fact, we believed financially,

we'd actually get a higher rate

by having it be an open landscape.

How do you make this a year-round?

How do you make this actually worth

people's investment to keep it year-round?

We fully expect there will be

a mix of carnival style rides,

more bigger amusement park theme rides,

indoor/outdoor uses.

There has to be that
balance to make it work.

You have to have indoor rides,

like tunnel of love and all the dark rides.

You should also be able to
have like contemporary rides.

Virtual and virtual rides.

Dave & Buster's is one the corporations

that Thor Equities wanted to bring in.

Howie's Game Shack which
is a gigantic game operator

that we think would have
been great and be a city.

We wanna bring in people
like to be more interactive.

If they have shows, to be more interactive.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Nickelodeon.

We're opening it up to include
very limited beach related

and amusement related retail.

We don't wanna bring in no big-box stores,

and Thor Equities never intended

to bring in any big-box stores.

However, the community would
love a Barnes & Nobles.

A Junior's Cheesecake.

Maybe a Gap, maybe a Duane Reade,

maybe the things all of the
Coney Island neighborhood needs.

We need live theater in Coney Island.

My dream is to have the Shore
Theater be brought back.

B.B. King's Bottom
Line Rock n' Roll Club.

Where are you gonna have you Bar Mitzvah?

Coney Island.

Two water park hotels.

Midway attractions and theaters.

And remember, it's on the beach.

Quicksilver for the beach.

We don't want a shopping mall.

And you know what?

And people keep on saying

well Thor Equities wants
to build a shopping mall.

They don't wanna a shopping mall.

They wanna bring in
creative retailers, okay.

Let me give you an example,

Williams-Sonoma.

We had lots of exciting folks

that we think would have been great

and we still think would be great.

There is a way to have both.

Their way is to have nostalgia.

Their way is to have antiquate in rides.

And to have these old rides work in

with the new rides.

I'm not saying to get rid of the old rides.

What I'm saying is we can
keep the old rides, okay.

And we could also bring in some new rides.

Chance is, arguably,
the largest manufacturer

of amusement rides if
not in the United States,

possibly worldwide.

Our product line spans little park trains

all the way to major roller coasters.

Will the real
Harold Chance please stand up?

His claim to fame and really what brought

the company along was his ability

to trailer mount amusement rides.

And that's what he's legendary for.

Well the Zipper,
probably, I've always said,

is the best one truck ride built.

I mean you can put it up
and down in no time at all.

Two men, two hours.

Two men, two hours.

You told all the carnies
that when you sold it to them.

Well they believed me.

It's a fast ride.

You gotta have a strong stomach for it.

There it comes, oh yeah.

This is what did it to him.

That machine right there.

Cars just spin and spin and spin.

The boom turns the whole ride,

then the cable turns the cars,

then the third motion is the cars flipping.

So, it's really doing three
motions at the same time.

It's like being like an astronaut.

Cause they flip you, they turn you.

They give you seven, eight G's.

And you're coming down on a turn,

just look like you're gonna
hit flat on your face.

But you're not.

You're just gonna flip
and go right back up.

The Zipper is extremely safe

so long as you follow the
instructions on how to ride it.

No loose articles, no pregnant women,

nobody under the influence
of alchohol or drugs.

And hold on.

What are you scared?

I am.

I'm not.

Woah!

Hold on, buddy.

I wouldn't build anything I wouldn't ride.

I think you should ride
everything that you build.

Are we going in reverse?

Yeah.

Ah shit!

I think the screaming has a lot to do

with the repeat the rides on the thing.

I've always said a thrill
ride is not any good

unless it makes you scream.

Oh my God, get me off, get me off.

"Get me off, get me off."

Once you stop the ride to get them off,

they don't wanna get off,

they wanna keep on going.

There was no problem to get
somebody to operate the ride

because the Zipper would strip

all the money out of your pockets.

Hey one of my quarters,

there goes one of my quarters.

One guy would be running the ride,

one guy would be down there

pulling money up off the ground.

We put the cage on it.

We wanted to use expanded metal

that was big enough so the
change could still fall through.

So the carnies could get their shakes.

It's big enough for a quarter to fall out,

but not a silver dollar.

They didn't get bill
folds or anything like that.

No, they didn't get bill
folds, they just got the change.

Everything comes
out, ching-ching-ching-ching,

coming out the side of the car,
lighters, driver's license,

credit cards, metro cards.

Change, keys, wallets, pocket books.

We're gonna paid like shit.

We had a Maxwell House can in there,

and we're getting rained with money.

Yeah, it's a tough life.

They earn every penny they
get, I'll tell you that.

You wouldn't believe what
would come out of there.

Wow, this is fun, shake me again.

Teeth.

Weapons.

Woman's disposable stuff.

Not responsible for anything lost.

The last time I rode one,

I hadn't secured my car keys.

And I was riding with a friend,

my keys began appearing
in front of my face.

Remember the time on the Skydiver

when the dildo fell out

because you had that hole in the car.

A lot of funny things on that thing.

He had a lot of shakers maybe that...

Your girlfriend loved you that night?

That was just her analogy
I guess, the shaking...

♫ I've been working on the Zipper

♫ All the long, long day

No hand saw, come on.

Two guys, one on each side.

I've got your back, let's go.

I added an extra thousand pounds

on this fucker worth of paint.

Watch the pipe.

We're putting the rots in it.

Okay, we're walking, we're walking.

We're talking.

We're tripping.

Every couple weeks,

something else is moving
out of here, you know.

It's sad.

There's an icon over here.

Well, the truck should
be here sometime this week.

Supposed to be leaving Friday morning,

going to Honduras.

That's where the ride is going.

Are you gonna miss it?

Oh sure, I'll miss it.

Been here for years and years.

At the beginning of all this,

I was having coffee with a friend of mine

who owned Thor Equities
by the name of Joe Sitt.

Domenic and I were friendly,

and I had conversation with him.

Yes, we were just what's going on,

were talking about different things.

Then we start talking about Coney Island.

He says, "If I could only get a developer

"that would be willing to do this."

Before you know it,

Joe Sitt started buying
properties in Coney Island.

And he assembled quite a
large parcel in Coney Island.

He's a very involved community activist.

He was always there to help the community.

Thor Equities is a business developer,

they're there not only to develop it,

but to work with the community
and hear what we have to say.

Rich Calder, give us the overview.

What is going on at Coney Island?

First of all, the mayor did an about-face

from what he initially
announced in November.

15 acres of parkland has
been shrunk to nine acres.

And he is actually now
allowing the land owners

more say in what is actually going

to be built in Coney Island.

The change that you're talking about today

is in the boundries of the new mapped park.

The change results in
slightly larger footprints

where enclosed amusements,
entertainment uses,

limited freedom, hotels, and...

This deal sucks.

It sucks for you.

It sucks for New York.

Reducing 60 acres to
nine acres is unacceptable.

60 of amusements people,
60 acres of amusements.

Amusements can't make money today

because they cost so much.

The insurance is very, very expensive.

The upkeep of the rides are very, very,

and it's very hard to make money.

Amusements could make money.

They actually do make money.

I think we were doing
pretty good down there.

Everybody was making money.

Everybody's happy.

Everybody made a living there.

You can't have more family restaurants

in that area.

There is no place for me to take my kids

and sit down and have
dinner in Coney Island.

You can't have an Applebee's.

You can't have a Friday's.

They can't a-privatize our souls.

And we say no.

Hell no!

Carnival stores,

not bigger malls.

The city is really trying

to push this through.

To reduce the size of the amusement zone,

and allow 30-story high-rises

in the center of the amusement zone,

backed up by a shopping mall.

We had great hope,

I didn't think the Bloomburg administration

would be the ones to kill Coney Island.

The city has failed.

It has failed all of us as individuals,

as residents, as land owners.

I am not against development,

or condos or retail.

I only ask for development

done in the right way, with consensus.

Nothing more, and nothing less

than the city's own plan
just a few months ago.

The Coney Island thing in New York

is still going pretty much nowhere.

They have started to do open hearings,

and the locals have their
opportunity to stand up

and say what they think.

Basically, they think that
all the plans suck, so.

If anything ever gets redeveloped there,

I'll be shocked.

All I see in this plan,

is the amusement area getting smaller

and smaller and smaller and smaller.

In one of the plans you saw

that there was less acreage for amusements.

What they're not taking into consideration,

there's gonna be more
acres for entertainment.

Because one of my dreams,

Thor Equities is ready
to move forward on this,

is to build an indoor water park hotel.

So, when you build that
indoor water park hotel

that's gonna take up a large chunk of land.

So if you add up that, that's not included

in the acres that they wanna set aside

for the amusement.

So, you have more amusements.

Honestly, in the beginning,

it was a compromise,
but as we looked at it,

it made a better plan.

This whole thing is a disaster.

We're all being screwed.

And you know what?

Money talks.

Next person is Kat Bacum.

Step up to whatever huge
big money interests there are

that are telling you to do something

that you know is not right.

And you know, because I know,

that love Coney Island also.

We just wanna make a deal here

and do what we can to
restore and revitalize

the amusements and then
create a long term plan

that revitalizes the rest of Coney Island.

We've looked at every possible iteration

that I've been able to imagine so far.

We've talked about swapping Joe Sitt's land

for the parkland and letting
the owner be a developer

of the residential on Coney West.

And decided they didn't like that idea.

We've offered to buy parcels of it,

they've said yes and then no.

They said we don't wanna do this.

We don't wanna partner with the city.

We wanna sell you everything.

We said that's fine, we'll buy it all.

We'll pay you more than
what you paid for it.

We'll make you a fair deal.

We want to enter in to a negotiation

to pay a fair price to acquire the land.

That's what we wanna do.

Order.

Roll call.

Dickens

Here.

Mulign.

Here.

Eugene.

Here.

Fowlder.

Present.

Periera.

Here.

Mendez.

Here.

Mitchell.

Here, here.

Towson.

Here.

Hahn.

Here.

Recchia.

Here.

Quiet please.

This being the only stated meeting in July,

we have a large agenda today.

Let me start first with a few comments

about the Coney Island rezoning plan.

I think anyone would be hard pressed

not to admit that Coney Island has lost

a little bit of her luster.

And what we're doing today is hopefully

preserving what was
great about Coney Island,

but also enabling it to
move forward and expand

and again become a true
recreation destination.

We've preserved amusements.

We've brought parkland.

We've also created important jobs

which will offer opportunity
to area residents

at a time when it is
critically, critically needed.

For too long New York's most historic

and exciting neighborhood has been a shadow

of the glory and glamour it once held.

Today is truly a historic day.

By working together with Mayor Bloomburg,

his administration, and the community,

we are able to develop a rezoning plan

that will usher in a new era
for this iconic neighborhood.

To all of the amusement operators

who when we first started
this was extrememly skeptical.

We appreciate all that you have done for us

and your input will continue.

And we will work together to
see that we get the right rides

and the amusement industry
will stay there forever.

I do want to compliment
Council Member Recchia

because I think he's
gotten a lot of amenities

for his district and his community.

I know he fought very
hard to amend the plan.

Problem is, it was the city's plan.

It was never really a
cooperative relationship.

The overwhelming concern I had

from residents of Coney Island

was expand the amusement area.

Reducing the amusement area,

is unfortunately going to kill

what is historically Coney Island.

I have to vote no.

We could do better.

Quiet please.

This is a plan to make
Coney Island more feasible

for the business community.

More attractive to the business community,

and not for the local grassroots,

indigenous people there

that are struggling each and everyday.

Where are all these poor people gonna go?

Let's put things together.

Come on, let's be honest.

Is the American people stupid?

Are you stupid?

You have to understand,

people wanna put projects up there.

They wanna put condominiums up there.

Concrete jungle.

They could care less about

the amusement business, about Zippers.

So, let's put buildings up.

Let's make this a zoning for buildings.

Fuck the people that have amusement.

Fuck the people that have no
money to come to the beach.

We wanna put buildings up
to make billions of dollars.

That's all this is about.

About putting buildings
up and making money.

I'm encouraging my colleagues to do

what I know you're not gonna do.

Vote no.

LU1136 through LU1142,

Coney Island Redevelopment.

Brewer?

I vote aye.

Council Member Dickens?

I vote aye.

Ulrich?

Aye on all.

Gerson?

Aye on all.

I'd like to congratulate

Council Member Domenic Recchia.

Aye.

Aye on all.

I vote aye on all.

Aye.

I vote aye on all.

I'd like to vote aye on all.

Aye on all.

Domenic, you have brough it home.

I vote aye.

Down, down, down, down.

May she rest in peace.

Take six.

The Zipper is down.

This is a day some people

probably thought never would arrive.

But lo and behold, here it is.

One of America's most famous destinations,

the one and only Coney Island
is what we're talking about.

Reviving the magic and
excitement of Coney Island

for the 21st century has been
one of our administration's

top economic development
priorities for a long time.

If people really keep trying,

both sides of any negotiation
can get a good chunk

of what they want and not get hurt too much

in what they can't get it.

That's what democracy is all about.

That's what a good negotiation is about.

Before we could move forward

there was still one big piece missing.

And the big piece is ownership of the land.

And today I'm thrilled to announce

that achieved a major breakthrough.

The city has signed a
contract with Thor Equities

to purchase 6.9 acres
of land in Coney Island,

most of it along the waterfront.

This is the last major piece of the puzzle,

and it really marks the beginning

of a new era in Coney Island's history.

I hate to see that ride

just to be pulled away.

It was heartbreaking to everybody.

I've been kind of
heartbroken all summer long

because this is the last summer.

That day, you know, I shed a tear.

It's a machine.

I shed a tear when she drove away.

When the ride was leaving,

and the guy is driving the ride up.

Jay runs out of the gate
and he just starts chasing,

"Come back, come back!"

He's chasing the zipper down the parking...

"Come back, don't leave."

I felt bad.

It's my pleasure to introduce the person

who helped make it happen, Joe Sitt.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

This was one tough negotiation.

Bob Lieber says I was tough.

I'll tell you, Mayor
Bloomburg, your team here,

by hiring investment
bankers, they're tough.

Deputy Mayor Lieber should
have been called Luca Brasi.

For what a henchman he was for the mayor.

The city is purchasing three parcels

at a cost of $95.6 million.

A critically important investment
in Coney Island's future.

And to encourage Thor
Equities to start developing

the hotels and stores it plans to build

in its remaining land along Surf Avenue.

Our administration is investing more

than $150 million to improve
Coney Island's infrastructure

with millions more coming
in federal and state aid.

This is a strategy that we've
used all across the city.

Rezone, reinvest, and
reap the long term rewards

of private investment.

Coney Island ruined.

Probably use that.

Of all the jobs I had,

this was my best job.

On a scale of one to 10,

it was definitely over a 10.

It's being at the amusement park,

being by the beach, being by the water,

being with so many people, so many laughs.

It's just a big adventure down there.

You never know what you're gonna see

from one day to the next.

The life,

it's all fun.

The smell of the food, the corn on the cob,

the knishes, the hot
dogs, the cotton candy,

and popcorn going.

It always has an aroma in the summer

that you don't have anywhere else.

That's for sure, that's for sure.

It's hard to get your
sand out of your shoes.

Once you're in there, it's
a sickness, it's a drug.

It's a spectacular place.

You know, you miss the place.

And you miss the work.

And you miss the friends and the laughs.

You miss the people.

Yelling and screaming, the loud music,

the loud noises.

Coney Island's the best place,

so many things going on at the same time.

Whatever will be will be.

The little people, can't stop it.

They took the life and the
heart out of Coney Island.

By them doing what they did.

It's not gonna be the same.

No matter what you put there,

it's not gonna be the same.