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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, FEBRUARY 23, 2020
LOLA STAR
extensions to continue
working out a rent increase
with Zamperla, but
the extra time didn’t yield
any results, she said.
“It’s heart breaking.
I’ve built a successful business
over the past 19 years.
I started it with nothing,”
she said on Tuesday. “I created
a truly unique business
based on my art products
I design and hand
print in Brooklyn.”
The Bloomberg administration
awarded
Zamperla a ten-year
lease in 2010 to revamp
the Coney Island amusement
park and boardwalk
businesses, which was
later extended. In 2011,
Zamperla tried to oust all
eight boardwalk business
— including Lola Star
and Ruby’s Bar and Grill
— but kicked out only five
after facing public pressure.
Carlin and others have
accused Zamperla of unethical
business practices,
such as forcing tenants to
hand over 10 percent of
their sales and to sign nondisclosure
agreements.
“It’s one thing for private
landlords to have nondisclosure
agreements, but
it’s another thing when
the city and the City Council
issues non-disclosure
agreements,” said civil
rights lawyer Norman
Siegal at a Dec. 5 rally at
City Hall against the rent
hikes. “What do you have
to hide?”
Despite the impending
closure, Carlin — who also
operates a Lola Star store
in Queens and the Dreamland
Roller Rink in Downtown
Brooklyn — says that
she plans to take legal action
against the Italian
company.
“I told them I was really
hoping to find an amicable
solution before it
became an ugly legal battle
but they didn’t care,”
she said on Tuesday. “I
am not leaving without a
fight.”
Representatives from
Zamperla and the New
York City Economic Development
Corporation did
not respond to requests for
comment by press time.
CLARK ST.
tion, said the station’s closure
would likely kill his
business.
“Right now business is
bad, if they close for eight
months, I’ll be out of business,”
he said.
The eight-month closure
was one of three options
transit bigwigs presented
to the community,
and the one favored by
outgoing city transit czar
Andy Byford — who cited
the low costs and quicker
timeframe compared to
other options.
“We strongly feel our
approach minimizes the
impact that this disruption
will cause,” Byford said.
The alternate proposals,
which multiple business
owners said they preferred,
would have kept the
stations open while repairs
were conducted.
One option called for repair
work on one elevator
at a time, leaving at least
one in service at all times
— although that scheme
would have extended the
project’s timeline to two
years. A third plan would
have kept the station open
during peak hours only,
which would have taken a
year to complete, according
to the MTA.
Transit offi cials presented
the proposals at a
community meeting at St.
Francis College in September,
and ultimately decided
on the full-closure, which
will begin after a contract
is awarded, transit bigwigs
said.
The plan calls for the
mezzanine doors to be left
open during repairs, but
business owners doubt that
will be suffi cient to maintain
enough business because
the vast majority of
their business comes from
commuters coming and going
from the train.
“Everybody goes to
work, they bring their stuff
with them, they don’t have
time to come this way,
they’ll go to a business
over there,” said Fernando
Costano, an employee at
Brooklyn Heights Shoe
Master, a shoe repair shop
in the station.
A spokesman for the
MTA claimed the process
had been as transparent as
possible, and pointed to the
meetings held with community
stakeholders in the
months leading to the decision.
“This has been a very
public and collaborative
process and we’re committed
to keeping all of
our neighbors informed as
the project is planned this
year,” said Aaron Donovan.
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Salahuddin Aziz, owner of a newspaper stand in the station. Photo by Ben Verde