2
‘We need a lifeline’
Coney Island amusement park owners face ‘fi nancial ruin’ amid COVID closures
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, AUGUST 30, 2020 The Well’s shuttered front gate on Meserole Street. The Well
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Beloved beer hall and
event venue The Well will
permanently shutter due to
fi nancial troubles as a result
of COVID-19, according
to an Aug. 21 social media
announcement by the East
Williamsburg alehouse.
“It’s with the deepest
heartbreak that we offi -
cially announce The Well
will not be reopening, and
will thus remain closed
for good,” read the Friday
post on The Well’s Facebook
page.
The Meserole Street tap
room has been closed since
late March due to the pandemic,
but the owners said
the months-long lack of
customers and the uncertain
future of nightlife in
the city killed any plans to
reopen.
“It may come as no surprise
that the insurmountable
fi nancial pressure
placed upon the business
due to the COVID-19 crisis
has forced our hand,”
the post read. “The team
wanted nothing more than
to party with you again
when the risks were behind
us and the city had
fully reopened, but the future
of nightlife in NYC is
too uncertain for us to see
a path forward.”
The venue originally
opened in 2012 inside the
former 19th century Hittleman
Brewery, and boasted
60 beers on tap along with
a a 11,000 square-foot backyard,
hosting events like
beer festivals, bands, open
mics, presidential debate
watch parties, and fundraisers.
Despite the end of their
own venue, the owners of
The Well voiced optimism
for the future of the city
and encouraged folks to
support small businesses.
“As you know, the effects
of the pandemic have been
devastating to our industry.
Sadly, we aren’t the fi rst and
won’t be the last to close our
doors. Please support your
local small businesses however
you can. They need it
right now,” the Facebook
post read. “It may take a
long time, but our city will
recover from this. We sincerely
hope that our paths
cross sooner than later.”
BY TODD MAISEL
As summer months begin
to wind down, the owners
of Coney Island’s amusement
park rides are bracing
for the increasingly likely
prospect of missing out on
their entire money-making
season — which, they
fear, could send them into
“fi nancial ruin.”
“We are hanging by a
thread, waiting to hear the
news,” said Dennis Vourderis,
the owner of the iconic
Wonder Wheel. “Bowling alleys
and gyms are reopening,
but I didn’t hear anything
about amusements.”
Business owners like
Vourderis — whose family
has owned the historic
landmark since 1983 — are
appealing directly to Gov.
Andrew Cuomo, arguing
that they could open the
100-year-old ride while adhering
to stringent social
distancing measures.
“If ever there was ONE
New York State attraction
that has safe social distancing
designed right into its
operation, it is the WONDER
WHEEL — the centerpiece
of the skyline of the
Coney Island Boardwalk
is an open-air gondola ride
with separation,” Vourderis
wrote in a letter to the
governor. “We invite you to
visit and we await approval
to open so that we may celebrate
our 100th year of safe
operations.”
The plea to Cuomo
comes after state regulators
gave the go-ahead for
the New York Aquarium to
reopen on Aug. 27 — giving
the operators behind the
amusement district some
hope that they may be able
to return this year.
“We thought oh, the
amusements may be next
week — but nothing,” said
Vourderis. “So it’s hard to
understand rationale. We
want to spread the love, not
the virus. Time is ticking,
and it’s getting closer to
Labor Day, our traditional
end.”
Coney Island Councilman
Mark Treyger, citing
the potential damage to the
neighborhood if the amusement
district goes under,
called on the various levels
of government to help support
business owners like
Vourderis however they
can.
“At the start of this year,
we were in talks with Dennis
and a number of Coney
Island stakeholders — this
was supposed to be a historic
year, to celebrate the 100th
birthday of Wonder Wheel.
But now, Dennis is asking
the city leaders how he will
survive,” Treyger said.
Alessandro Zamperla,
who serves as the president
of Central Amusements International,
which owns
Luna Park and other Coney
Island attractions, said
their “fi nancial situation is
devastating,” and claimed
that they “won’t make it”
through the summer without
outside help.
“This is a family-owned
business, and to survive,
we will need a fi nancial lifeline
or we won’t make it,”
Zamperla said, noting that
Luna Park had recently completed
a $13 million renovation.
“The season is almost
over, we are here at September,
and we are fi nancially
done. The federal government
needs to come through
with a small business program,
we have creditors and
fi nancial obligations and we
need this help now.”
And on top of losing out
on the revenue — which
they typically generate only
between Memorial Day and
Labor Day — the park closure
has caused substantial
job loss in the neighborhood.
While Zamperla
usually employs over 1,000
people, they’ve cut that
number to less than 100 for
the 2020 season.
Zamperla’s company
leases and manages the
amusement park, as well
as some surrounding storefronts,
from the city’s Economic
Development Corporation
— prompting
Treyger and others to call
for the city to provide rent
relief to the struggling
amusement district.
“We don’t need platitudes,
Tweets, statements
— we need concrete actions
and it is within the control
of the city to cancel rents of
the city’s tenants and subtenants
to get through a diffi
cult period. After all, the
amusements are ordered
to remain closed,” Treyger
said. “The mayor is the
landlord so the city needs to
take steps to cancel rent until
they can open.”
The legislator framed the
situation in moral terms,
saying it was the city’s obligation
to help their struggling
tenants.
“These businesses
never gave up on New York
or the neighborhood, and
they believed in Coney Island.
They hired locally,
took part in community
events. Dennis and others
from the amusement district
helped people to ride
out Hurricane Sandy, even
providing emergency supplies
even when they themselves
were going through
enormous challenges,”
Treyger said. “There is no
New York City without Coney
Island, and we’ve come
so far I will work my heart
out to make sure we don’t
go back.”
Community Board 13 District
Manager Eddie Mark
agreed with Treyger, worrying
of the potential ripple effect
from losing businesses
in Coney Island.
“With the possibility of
a lack of businesses open,
will it look like the 70s, 80s,
and become an undesirable
place?” wondered Mark.
“We’ve done so much work
over the past 10 years, we
don’t want things to slip
back to what it used to be.”
The Coney Island amusement district faces an uncertain future as
it remains closed during the pandemic. Photo by Todd Maisel
The Well taps out in Williamsburg