By Verena Dobnik
Associated Press
And Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

CONEY ISLAND -- This summer could mark the end of Coney Island's historic Astroland amusement park. But years of back-and-forth bickering among a developer, city officials and ride operators over the park’s future leaves residents wondering — is the closure threat real this time?

The owner of Astroland, near the Brooklyn boardwalk, says she’ll shut down on Sunday for good if the landowner doesn’t offer a two-year lease. Carol Albert, who sold the land in 2006 to Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities, says park employees need more job security.

“They’re emotional wrecks — it’s hard to live on a precipice like this,� says Albert, adding that several workers resigned recently.

A call by the Eagle to Joseph Carella, a spokesman for Albert, confirmed that Thor still had not offered such a lease as of Tuesday.

Stefan Friedman, a spokesman for Thor, replied, “We are extremely disappointed that Carol Albert has decided to give up on the future of Coney Island when her current lease isn’t even up for a number of months. However, Coney Island will be fully open for business in the summer of 2009 with amusements, games, shopping and entertainment galore.�

Thor did set up temporary rides this summer at an empty lot it owns in the amusement area. Some of the rides were provided by Reithoffer Shows, a nationwide firm that provides rides to midways and state fairs. Others were operated by Geren Rides, and there was an angry back-and-forth on several blogs about the safety of these rides -- which did pass inspection, however.

Astroland also operates the famous Cyclone rollercoaster, which it operates in a leasing agreement with the city. No matter what happens, the Cyclone will continue to operate, since it is a city landmark. Albert’s father-in-law, Dewey Albert, unveiled the outer-space-themed Astroland park in 1962, when Coney was already declining. Now looking ahead to its 47th summer season, Astroland has 75 year-round employees and 275 seasonal workers.

Last year, the city announced a sweeping redevelopment plan for 47 acres of the Coney waterfront. Part of the plan detailed a new 15-acre amusement park, with Sitt deciding whether the Astroland rides could stay on its property.

Thor, which owns 11 acres of Coney Island, had planned to break ground next year on a $1.5 billion complex including high-rise hotels, retail stores, movie theaters, an indoor water park and the city’s first new rollercoaster since the landmark wooden Cyclone was built 75 years ago.

Officials this year suddenly shrank the amusement zone to 9 acres because property owners — mainly Sitt — would not give up the extra tracts of waterfront for the city-proposed park.

That angered community activists, who accused the developer and the city of trying to over-gentrify the area, where visitors can still find freak show attractions such as a fire eater and the Human Blockhead, who drives a drill into his face.

Last fall, Thor and Astroland agreed to a one-year lease extension that expires Jan. 31. There have been no face-to-face talks this year, Albert said.

She now wants a lease for the summers of 2009 and 2010, since she believes the earliest Thor could break ground on new development would be in two years.

Construction could begin as soon as City Council approves a zoning change that would allow an amusement-only area to be used for other commercial purposes — a process that could take more than a year and involve public hearings capped by a council vote.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008 All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law. Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net