Today will be the last ride for Coney Island's Astroland. That will leave park owner Carol Albert with two dozen rides and 16 trailers worth of items accumulated over 46 years to clear out by next January in order to avoid fines from land owners Thor Equities. In order to clear out ASAP, Albert has already put several of the rides up for sale online from a firm called "Rides-4-U." Rides such as Dante's Inferno......

If you watch just one Community Board Meeting video this summer, make it this one. Willets Point property owners who've been passionately protesting Mayor Bloomberg's controversial $3 billion plan to rezone the area (to make way for a hotel, convention center, offices and retail stores) have put together this video showing how the sausage gets made over at Community Board 7. Their gripping featurette focuses in on a contentious committee meeting that yielded a yes......

Photograph by jorgeq on Flickr Astroland, the Coney Island amusement park that seems constantly on the brink of extinction in recent years, appears to be shutting down Astro-fast and will close down for good this Thursday. Owner Carol Albert, in a letter published by today's NY Daily News, wrote that property owner Thor Management "has left Astroland no choice but to notify its employees that the amusement park will be closing permanently at the......

Photo courtesy Atomische. Angry opponents to Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to develop 62 acres of poorly-maintained land in Willets Point, Queens disrupted a press conference yesterday held by city officials in Washington Square Park to tout the proposal. Councilman Hiram Monserrate, whose district includes Willets Point, led over two dozen protesters to the press conference, where they drowned out advocates for the plan, chanting “Justice for Willets Point!” According to the Times, the police refused......

The firm attached to the South Street Seaport makeover, SHoP Architects, has released some new images of their vision. Curbed approves, and gets "a better feel for the layout of the proposed new Seaport" through the images of the model -- they also urge community members to ditch the mall and get on board, though it's likely many fear the waterview-blocking 42-story tower in the proposal.......

The South Street Seaport redevelopment plan, released yesterday, is unsurprisingly being met with immediate backlash. Councilman Alan J. Gerson, who the NY Times reports has a significant voice in the approval, has stated with confidence that the plan is “certainly not going to pass in its present form.” The developers, General Growth Properties, told Gerson of their “willingness to work with him” and have mentioned refining the plan, though have not mentioned to what extent.......

General Growth Properties released the details of their redevelopment plan for South Street Seaport today. GGP's CEO John Bucksbaum said, "Our vision for the transformation of the Seaport is the centerpiece of GGP's commitment to New York and its residents. We are proud to work closely with the New York City Economic Development Corporation to preserve and restore the unique character of this historic area while addressing the immediate and long-term needs of Lower......

The Kingsbridge Amory in the Bronx has stood as a colossal unused edifice in the Bronx for years. The City recently negotiated with development group The Related Companies to transform the building into a commercial mall. Some residents are unhappy that a piece of their neighborhood with a lot of potential is being sold out from under them. Members of the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance would like to meet with the head of The Related......

Last year Mayor Bloomberg announced a $3 billion plan to seize 61 acres of the Willets Point district next to the forthcoming Citi Field in Queens through eminent domain, raze it, and construct 5,500 units of housing, a hotel, convention center and over 2 million square feet of office space, restaurants and retail shops. But business owners in the target zone have been fighting it, saying their ‘hood, dubbed the Iron Triangle for its chop......

Wow - yet depressingly not surprising: The Port Authority will have to pay World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein $300,000 for every day past December 31, 2007 that it does not turn over a part of the WTC site. The payment could be as much at $13.5 million or as little as $9.3 million. The PA and Silverstein worked out a deal back in 2006 where the PA would control the land but Silverstein, who......

Will Macy's give its regards to Broadway? The NY Times reports that the developers who are trying to redevelop the James Farley Post Office building into the new Moynihan Station "are in the early stage of negotiations with Macy’s" to move from the store's landmark Herald Square location to the Farley building on Eighth Avenue. Charles Bagli's article summarizes the progress of the Penn Station redevelopment and Farley-into-Moynihan Station project: It's complex, given the......

Earlier this year, Mayor Bloomberg announced a major plan to transform Willets Point, the area, also known as the Iron Triangle, across from Shea Stadium, into a thriving area of new housing, business and hotels. However, some are pretty unhappy with the plans, which include replacing 250 businesses, and they've channeled their hopes - and a fair amount of money - to City Council member Melinda Katz. The Post reports Katz received $29,500 from "people......

The Times checks in on the New York City Opera and the New York City Ballet, who have been battling over their shared theater at Lincoln Center.The organizations had tried to come to terms on renovation plans several years ago in the early stages of Lincoln Center’s redevelopment effort. But discussions fell apart over issues like whether to create a center aisle (the opera was strongly in favor; the ballet, adamantly opposed) and how to......

The Columbia University students' hunger strike to protest Columbia's non-inclusive attitudes about redevelopment and curriculum continues with one less striker. Just after midnight on Sunday, a post went on up on the Columbia Hunger Strike website saying, "This evening, one hunger striker was admitted to St. Luke's hospital. She will not continue the strike for personal medical reasons." The student, Aretha Choi, who attends Barnard, later wrote:...my disappointment increases as I remember the bitter......

A 19th century Greek revival building on Pearl Street – the road that formed the oyster shell strewn border of New Amsterdam in the 17th century – will soon be torn down, according to the A.P. The former warehouse at 213 Pearl was built in 1831 and was integral to what Ric Burns calls “the first district in the world devoted exclusively to commerce.” Once the city approves the permit, demolition could start as early......

As the city and state start to get to work on West Side redevelopment, the Mayor said that one entity won't be getting tax breaks if it moves. Mayor Bloomberg was asked if Madison Square Garden would continue to get $10.9 million in tax breaks if it moves West to the Farley Post Office building (that's what a map in the draft Environmental Impact Statement notes). Bloomberg decisively said, "Not if I'm mayor they won't.......

Wow: The Daily News reports that Astroland will "open for one last season" thanks to a deal between Astroland owner, the Albert family, and Thor Equities. Thor bought the Astroland property for $30 million in 2006, as part of its billion-dollar redevelopment plants, and it was suggested earlier this summer that Thor would let Astroland open for the 2008 season. However, last month had reports about extreme differences between what Thor wanted for rent......

NY state officials are expected to release the draft scope for the Moynihan Station's environmental impact statement today, which the NY Sun calls the "Spitzer administration's first public display of forward progress" on the project. The redevelopment of Penn Station into a Moynihan Station at the James Farley Post Office building on Eighth Avenue has been in the works for years. In fact, it was October 8 five years ago that the state officially acquired......

This afternoon, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to give parts of the Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg landmark status. Redevelopment plans for the old Domino location call for 2,200 apartments (about 660 will be affordable housing) on the entire 11.5 acre site. The Landmark status was specifically given to three buildings (the filter house, the pan house, and the finishing house). Even before the LPC acted, development of the site included some preservation......

The city remembered the sixth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks yesterday with a subdued ceremony. First responders, including police officers, firefighters, and EMTs, read the 2,750 victims' names throughout the morning in Zuccotti Park, near the Ground Zero. Victims' families were allowed to descend a ramp into the "Pit" amid the construction of Ground Zero, where a temporary reflecting pool was placed. Mourners placed flowers in the pool and letters on the......

The local newspapers tackled the sixth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks in different ways. The Daily News offers most of its front cover to remember the day, while the Post gives some room to General Petraeus' Congressional testimony. The Post looks at how vibrant the Financial District is now, even after the devastating effects of the September 11, and the Daily News looks at how some families have decided to skip this......

Jim Riches is the Deputy Chief of the FDNY. He is one of the producers of Urban Legend, a video that doggedly questions the supposedly heroic actions of Mayor Giuliani on 9/11. We recently asked him a few questions about that, today's anniversary and the future of the WTC. How long have you been in the FDNY? 30 years experience in some of the busiest firehouses in NYC. Which firehouse are you working at now?......

The folks behind the video presenting an alternate plan for the Domino Sugar Factory site have launched a website that lays their idea out a little more clearly. The plan, as presented on dominosugar.org, is for the site to turn into a "global cultural center", regenerating the industrial site like the Tate Modern in London, which they say is "directly relevant and well documented." The website estimates that a cultural attraction at the Domino......

Plans for a new Penn Station and Madison Square Garden at the historic Farley Post Office building remain as murky as ever. But a recent poll undertaken by the Municipal Art Society (MAS) suggests that Penn Station commuters overwhelmingly favor the prospect of a grand new train station--but they need more information. If and when the project proceeds, who will keep watch over the three mega-developers (the state-run ESDC, along with private companies Related Group......

There is a silver lining to all the talk of Coney Island redevelopment. With everyone worrying whether this may (or may not) be the last season of the Coney Island we all know and love, people are making sure to head there and enjoy it while it lasts! The Post reports that 11 of 12 businesses it surveyed have been doing great business. Astroland is up 5% while Wonder Wheel Park is up 15%.......

Coney Island may be changing a lot after its last summer with Astroland scheduled to close and redevelopment of the area, but the people over at the Coney Island History Project are doing their best to preserve memories of the old Coney Island. This season, the project inaugurates a permanent home, which is fittingly under the Cyclone. The Times reports that the space had many previous forms: a souvenir stand, a hot dog stand,......

The area across from Shea Stadium known as the Iron Triangle has never seemed suitable for housing, mostly because it was home to hundreds of auto shops. That could all change, if Mayor Bloomberg gets his way. Yesterday, the mayor announced a master plan to revitalize Willets Point, the official name of the 61-acre area in Northern Queens. The plan would replace the 250 businesses, which employ about 1,300 people, with housing, office space,......

For the second year, Mayor Bloomberg has unveiled the New York City Card, which serves as a list of the qualities he is looking for in any politicians, be they Republicans or Democrats. And therefore, those with the money to put behind politicians can use the card to see if the politician's interests line up with what the city needs. Bloomberg said, "The City Card is not about conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat -......

While it just opened for the season on Sunday, it looks like Astroland has a chance at staying open beyond the 2007 season. That's if Thor Equities, the company that purchased the land Astroland sits on, doesn't get its way on development plans. Astroland's status now depends on whether there are any delays to Thor's future plans. Joe Sitt of Thor told The Post that he's "willing to keep Astroland open" and "the last thing......

A true sign that spring is here: Inspectors from the Department of Buildings were at Astroland Amusement Park in Coney Island yesterday, checking rides (like the Water Flume), before this weekend's opening. Opening day is April 1, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will be there at 11:30AM to perform the ceremonial christening with a bottle of chocolate egg cream. Astroland is getting ready for its final season, as Thor Equities works on its......