By Samuel Newhouse
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

CONEY ISLAND — Imagine Coney Island as a futuristic zoo where visitors can take photographs of gigantic hybrid animals, with a cross-breed chicken/goat the size of a house for the main attraction.

Or imagine a massive structure designed like a several miles-wide sea monster with giant tentacles sprawled across the coast, and rides and attractions inside of it. And what if a “Shinkansen� or bullet train was installed in the subways, to bring guests from Manhattan to Coney Island at more than 350 miles per hour?

These were some of the designs presented at last week’s meeting for the Municipal Art Society’s ImagineConey project, which asked Brooklyn residents, regardless of financial, technological or realistic constraints, to send in their ideas for what they want the future of Coney Island’s world-famous amusement park to look like.

Jasper Goldman, a senior policy analyst for the MAS, acknowledged that some of the ideas were a bit far-fetched. However, “in many of them there’s a germ of something that can be developed.�

Goldman is a member of the MAS’s ImagineConey team, which believes that a revitalized and redesigned Coney Island amusement park could improve the entire area, bringing in more jobs and dollars to locals while making the area a safer and more desirable place to live.

Although MAS’s plan includes asking the city to buy up to 25 acres of land in the area, real estate developer David Malmuth, who works for Robert Charles Lesser and Co. and worked on similar revitalization projects in Times Square and Los Angeles, explained why such an investment could be hugely profitable.

Malmuth said that a re-designed Coney Island could expect to attract approximately 3.4 million visitors per year.

“You've got a lot to start with. You’re not going to start from scratch,� he said, citing Coney Islan’'s world-wide reputation.

One key element included in the layout of this project is what Malmuth called a “great, jaw-dropping attraction� — a signature, iconic ride that would draw international crowds, something akin to the “London Eye� ferris wheel.

Malmuth said that with several new rides and one main attraction, the park could expect 15,000 visitors a day.

But asked how long they expected this plan to take before fruition, organizers at the meeting said possibly as long as 10 years.

Are they in over their heads? Is it feasible?

Either way, the crowd of more than 150 people who attended last week appeared jubilant and excited to just imagine what Coney Island could be.

“Everyone wants Coney Island to be unique, original and innovative,� Goldman said. “This is where the hot dog was invented.�

Added Simon Pertz, chair of the MAS Planning Committee, “If you go to Tajikistan and say Coney Island, they know what you’re talking about. We’re sitting on this wonderful opportunity.�

The essential plan laid out begins with acquisitions by the city of land in the Coney Island area. With current land prices, they do not believe that a third party could realistically buy as much land as their projected park would require.

From there, a management entity or organization will be needed to start hiring ground-level developers and operators that will begin building the attractions.

ImagineConey leaders believe that to be successful, Coney Island would have to be child-friendly, affordable, open and not gated, and have events year-round.

Although there is some anxiety about recent steps by the city toward rezoning the area, that merely seems to be a source of encouragement for ImagineConey leaders.

Goldmam said that their interests were “not really� opposed to those of developer Joe Sitt, who owns land in Coney Island and has spoken publicly about his plans for redesigning the area in a different style.

“We want to see everyone work together, and he [Sitt] is not going to stand in the way of progress,� said Goldman. “People tend to see Coney as a fight between heroes and villians, but I don’t think that’s true. What we need is leadership for the area.�

To view the ideas submitted by the public, please visit www.imagineconey.com.

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