Coney Island preservationists pitch Sitt on restoration plans for deteriorating buildings

alternate textJoseph Sitt and the Grashorn Building

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An 11th-hour attempt by preservationists to save four Coney Island buildings from demolition by developer Joe Sitt has come in the form of renderings of what the properties might become if restored. Earlier this week, the Landmarks Preservation Commission decided that the buildings — including the 111-year-old Grashorn Building and the Henderson Building — had been “too significantly altered” from their original form to be protected as a historic district. After that blow, preservationists are pitching Sitt on a Museum of Amusements at the Grashorn and a theater, nightclub and rooftop restaurant at the Henderson, the former music hall where Harpo Marx began his career. But things aren’t looking good. “While we appreciate the enthusiasm, the reality is… the City of New York found these buildings to have no significant historical value,” said Loren Riegelhaupt, a spokesperson for Sitt’s Thor Equities, which plans to tear down the buildings and build $10 million worth of games, food stands and shops. [NYDN]