Coney Island freak show protest planned

Community groups with over 4,000 members are planning a freak show protest for May 22, when Coney Island’s beach opens. Groups like Polar Bear Club and Coney Island USA say they will dress in goofy costumes and stage a protest against the city’s downsizing of a planned 15-acre amusement park preservation district to nine acres. The city revised its plans a few weeks ago after it failed to work out deals to buy land from property owners. The protesters say that Coney Island will be overrun with hotels, retail space and condos that will turn it into a “Mall of America.”