2010: A Year of Transition

Demolished: The Coney Island Bank Building

The year 2010 will be remembered as a year of transition for Coney Island. The year began on a high note with the opening of Zamperla's new Luna Park but ended on a sour note when four of the area’s few remaining historic buildings were denied landmark status and slated for demolition. The Coney Island Bank building and Shore Hotel were demolished by mid-December and Henderson’s Music Hall began its date with the wrecking ball soon after. A month earlier, the last of Coney’s old-time Boardwalk eateries were given eviction notices by Zamperla’s Central Amusement International, operators of the new Luna Park. In May, the Coney Island Arcade on West 12th Street and the Bowery was destroyed by fire. Not since the days of Robert Moses’s 1960s urban renewal projects has Coney Island experienced such radical transformation. 2010 will also be remembered for recording the hottest summer in New York’s history, with nearly every weekend bringing warm, clear, sunny weather. Coney Island has always been about the weather and the big question is whether the new businesses proposed for Coney’s Boardwalk will survive the inevitable rainy seasons ahead. We can only hope for the best.

The good news is that two historic buildings nominated for landmark status were approved. The Coney Island (Loews) Theater Building and the Childs Restaurant Building, headquarters of Coney Island USA, have been designated as landmarks.