BROOKLYN WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019 Playground for the rich
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Coney Island businesses face massive rent hike
BY ROSE ADAMS
Six small businesses located
in the Coney Island amusement
district may be forced to close
shop in the face of astronomical
rent increases expected at the beginning
of next year, according to
one local lawmaker.
“If Zamperla proceeds with
the drastic proposal, this would
be the end of mom ‘n’ pop shops,”
said Coney Island Councilman
Mark Treyger.
Business owners have just a
few weeks to decide whether to
abandon their longtime storefronts
on the Riegelmann Boardwalk,
when their 10 year leases
expire in January and Zamperla
— a company which operates
most of the amusement park and
the Coney Island Boardwalk on
behalf of the city — plans to increase
the area’s rent by a whopping
500-percent, according to
a Nov. 14 report by the Coney Island
Blog.
“With an insane 500-percent
rent increase expect all of your
favorite longtime businesses on
the boardwalk to be replaced by
Dave and Busters, Buffalo Wild
Wings, as well as the Cheesecake
Factory!” the post reads.
Among the businesses expected
to be hit hard by the lease
renewals are Coney Island institutions
Ruby’s Bar and Grill
and Tom’s Restaurant — which
opened in 1934 and 1936 respectively!
A source close to the owners,
who are bound by non-disclosure
agreements with Zamperla,
told Brooklyn Paper that both 80-
year mainstays will likely shutdown
as a result.
Another source who spoke on
condition of anonymity contradicted
reports that Ruby’s would
close, while noting that the 500
percent rent increase fi gure was
exaggerated.
If Ruby’s does close, it wouldn’t
be the fi rst time Zamperla used a
pending lease renewal to force
out Coney Island’s oldest watering
hole, The company tried —
and failed — to oust Ruby’s in
2010 along with eight other boardwalk
businesses, but the amusement
company was forced to back
down in the face of overwhelming
public pressure.
Meanwhile, one local hotdog
purveyor and outspoken critic of
the international amusement corporation,
Feltman Hotdogs owner
Michael Quinn, said rents are already
sky-high for the seasonal
stores, which only operate during
the late spring and summer.
“I have one friend and his
business was seasonal, and he
was paying $170,000 per year,”
Quinn said, adding that CAI also
takes 10-percent of sales from all
its tenants.
Quinn went on to slam
Zamperla for requiring vendors
to sign non-disclosure agreements,
and accused the amusement
park executives of welching
on their contracts with lease
holders. The hotdog purveyor
claims that his brother gave CAI
thousands of dollars so that the
company would distribute Feltman’s
hotdogs at Luna Park’s
stands and kiosks, but the corporation
violated the terms of their
licensing agreement by failing
to install the proper signage and
serving customers cold, unsavory
hotdogs, among other complaints,
Quinn said.
“My brother and I wanted so
badly to bring Feltman’s hotdogs
back,” Quinn said. “They had
no one managing the place…the
whole thing was an absolute s–t
show.”
Diana Carlin, the owner of local
souvenir store, surf shop, and
roller rink Lola Star, declined
to comment regarding the rent
hikes and closings, but the rink
owner expressed concern on Instagram
about the state of Coney
businesses in general, and noted
that she’s revived a local business
advocacy group, Save Coney
Island, as a result.
‘The time has come to resurrect
the Save Coney Island Organization.
I regret that I ever
felt confi dent enough in Coney
Island’s future that I let it go,”
read a Nov. 13 post on Lola Star’s
Instagram page. “I created this
nonprofi t in 2007 to preserve the
Spirit of Coney Island…As that
Spirit is challenged again it’s
time to rev that engine back up
and fi ght to save the Spirit of Coney
Island!”
CAI did not comment on the
rent hikes. Ruby’s and Tom’s did
not respond for comment.
Ruby’s Bar and Grill is among six restaurants facing massive rent hikes in January. Photo by Rose Adams
Kensington crash
BY BEN VERDE
An SUV overturned in Kensington on
Tuesday, after a high-speed crash that left
one driver injured.
According to witnesses, both drivers were
heading southbound on McDonald Avenue
near Caton Avenue at around 8 am, when the
driver of a white Toyota lost control, sideswiped
another car, crashed into another car
and ended up sidewise.
Dozens of first responders rushed to the
scene as a crowd of locals gathered in awe at
the crash scene.
The driver of the SUV was treated for nonlife
threatening injuries, while the driver
of the blue car was checked by medics at the
scene.
The two-block stretch of McDonald Avenue
between Caton and Church avenues has seen
11 crashes since 2011, resulting in 15 injuries
according to Crashmapper.
– With Paul Martinka
Locals surround the wrecked car as FDNY inspects the damage.
Photo by Paul Martinka