Brooklyn Borough President Riegelmann, holding rope, opened the Boardwalk and new streets in 1923. CIHP photo illustration
A century ago, Coney Island’s shoreline was private and fenced off to the public and a fee had to be paid to access the beach and ocean. In 1918 newly elected Brooklyn Borough President Edward Riegelmann proposed a visionary plan to take back the beach and make it public property. Not only did he accomplish this goal, but he also built the Coney Island Boardwalk and opened two dozen new streets between Surf Avenue and the beach. It wasn’t an easy task to raise the funding to claw back property from wealthy landowners, but he did it. Riegelmann wasn’t a ceremonial Borough President. He was someone who fought hard and got things done for the public good.
Borough President Antonio Reynoso is now in a position to uphold and preserve the difficult work that his predecessor accomplished. Will Reynoso approve a billionaire slumlord’s attempt to privatize and demap the two most important public streets in Coney Island’s amusement zone, or will he have the guts to save what Riegelmann created?
Demapping public streets is not needed for the casino project. It’s just a greedy land grab by a questionable developer. There is no good reason to give up the last remnant of the historic Bowery for a casino. There is no reason to transform Stillwell Avenue into a pedestrian mall that serves as a feeder ramp for a casino. Turning West 12th Street into a four-lane driveway is one of the most egregious and damaging projects that Coney Island has ever seen, a plan that will cut off and kill off surrounding business and hinder emergency access.
Is Reynoso strong enough and smart enough to withstand the lies of big money and bad planning? Does he care about his legacy? Does he want to be remembered as the man who sided with a slumlord and took Coney Island down? Does he really believe the lies and false promises of someone with a miserable track record? Does he really care about Coney Island? Does Reynoso want to be enshrined in the Hall of Shame with Fred Trump and Robert Moses?
We shall see.
(You can send your written comments to the Borough President at testimony@brooklynbp.nyc.gov no later than Friday, March 14th, 2025.)
-Charles Denson
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