Coney Island to generate major revenue for the city, Bloomberg says

Coney Park’s two new amusement parks are expected to create hundreds of jobs and bring in at least $100,000 a year for the city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday in his weekly radio address on 1010 WINS News Radio. Situated on the nearly seven acres purchased by the city last November, the $15 million Luna Park, slated to open on Memorial Day, and the $12 million Scream Zone, which will debut in summer 2011, will together make up “the largest Coney Island amusement area since Steeplechase Park closed in 1964,” Bloomberg said. The lease agreement stipulates that the city receive $100,000 per year for the land plus a percentage of the parks’ gross receipts. The city is also investing in a $100 million public-private partnership that will upgrade the existing aquarium in the neighborhood, and is pooling $150 million for community improvements, like a new entrance plaza for the amusement district. Residential and community development Coney Island Commons, which will have upwards of 180 units of affordable housing and a new YMCA, is also slated to break ground this year, Bloomberg said. TRD