City extends Coney Island amusement operator’s lease to compensate for Sandy damage

Coney Island
Coney Island

Thrill seekers and cotton-candy enthusiasts at Coney Island can look forward to seven extra years of revelry. Citing a need to compensate the neighborhood’s amusement operator, Zamperla USA, for damages sustained during Hurricane Sandy, the city will extend the operator’s lease agreement, the New York Post reported.

“[Zamperla] invested a lot of money after suffering damages from Sandy, so it’s fair to give them more time to recoup their money considering they hired so many people from the neighborhood,” City Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr., who represents the area, told the Post.

The plan was originally pitched by the city’s Economic Development Corp. and backed today by a City Council subcommittee. It is likely that the full council will ratify the extension in the near future, sources told the Post.

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The Italian-based Zamperla – which has opened attractions such as Luna Park and Scream Zone since taking over – will now have a lease through 2027 on the 6.2 acres of city-owned beachfront land. The original lease was set to expire in 2020.

Zamperla will continue to pay the city $100,000 in base rent but will collect a greater portion of gross receipts from the park over the course of the seven-year extension.

Along with Zamperla, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, which sits partly on city-owned land, will also receive a seven-year lease extension. [NYP]Hiten Samtani