Coney Island’s boardwalk, with Luna Park in the background. (Credit: Sami Marshak)
Some may think Coney Island’s glory days are in the past, but Coney Islanders disagree… especially with each other.
Community organizations, like Coney Island Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation and Alliance for Coney Island, want to improve the area through new business and homeownership. But the lack of a unified vision among community members has so far been a roadblock to progress — and broader divisions have become more stark as a proposal to build a casino on the boardwalk looms over the community.
“Coney Island is a place where we always have to fight for whose interests are considered more — there are communities within the community,” said Mathlyde Frontus, a board member of the revitalization group and former state assemblywoman.
Politicians come and go, bringing new ideas to reportedly fix the neighborhood, Frontus said. “These days, the iteration of that is the casino proposal,” she said.
Thor Equities Group, a developer currently bidding for one of three borough-wide casino licenses from the New York State Gaming Commission, announced its plan in 2022 for a $3 billion casino called “The Coney,” expected to be built between Surf Avenue and the boardwalk. The decision on the proposal, which features a hotel, convention space, retail stores, restaurants, and a concert venue, is expected in late 2025.
Yvonne Mayo, the first vice chair of the Revitalization Corporation, said that developers like Thor Equities are typically at odds with local needs, particularly those of Black and Latino residents. According to her, a casino would be damaging to a community that already lacks basic things like healthy grocery stores and pharmacies. City demographic records show that 21% of district 13 residents are Black and 17% are Hispanic.
The revitalization organization works to empower residents to rely on themselves, said Frontus. She, Mayo, and others in the group envision a Coney Island where individuals are starting businesses, buying homes, and accessing job training—and design their initiatives toward fulfilling this vision. In 2023, the corporation served 800 residents, with 10% receiving job certification, according to its annual report. However, funding is scarce, and board members often contribute from their own pockets, said Frontus.
The Alliance for Coney Island is another group working to revitalize the area by lobbying the city for a Business Improvement District (BID). The Alliance works with about 150 businesses, helping keep streets safe by installing security cameras and lighting, while also organizing community events like toy-giveaways, said Daniel Murphy, the alliance’s executive director.
But Ramon Guadalupe, native Coney Islander and community advocate who was working on Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny’ re-election campaign, said that the Alliance has not done enough to foster a sense of community for entrepreneurs and that they need to properly inform business owners about what a BID entails, including the assessment fee they will have to pay if they are in a BID.
“If there is a way for [business owners] to come together as a merchants/ business association, then perhaps they will be more unified and could possibly avoid an assessment charge altogether. I think the best thing the Alliance can do is to make sure the small business owners are properly informed before they vote on a BID,” he said.
Guadalupe said that prospective owners are often discouraged from opening businesses in Coney Island. He, too, has dreams of one day opening a café because the community lacks “third spaces,” or a social space other than home or work, he said. But the prospect is scary to him. He hears from failed business owners in the area that residents are reluctant to support new businesses that they perceive “come out of left field” or do not meet the community’s needs, like liquor stores or cannabis shops. A café, on the other hand, would solve the problem of the community needing meeting spaces.
“A lot of new businesses tend to be bodegas or chicken stores—just things we don’t need,” Guadalupe said.
He envisions a future Coney Island as an economic hub, with government seed money to help local businesses grow.
A 2017 needs assessment by the Alliance showed that 30% of residents shop locally less than twice a month. Kuoichi Shirayangi, another local resident and community activist, said most people go elsewhere to buy basic goods. He said there should be more grocery stores and healthy food options, citing Chipotle as an example of a “healthy food” corporation that’s been a community success.
Gino Durante, a retired New York City Police Department officer, believes that residents should be more open-minded to development proposals like the casino, calling it a billion-dollar “experiment” with more impact than local community initiatives.
Crime already plagues Coney Island, he said, but the pros of the casino outweigh the cons, even if increased levels of crime might accompany the development — a fear some locals have. Coney Island has a higher violent crime rate than Brooklyn borough-wide, but less than the city as a whole, according to NYU Furman Center.
Despite opposing casino plans, Mayo of the revitalization organization, and activist Shirayanagi, said they are both in favor of sustainable development that is beneficial to the community and reflects residents’ voices, like grocery stores, affordable housing, and recreational spaces. Though residents often disagree on the right path forward, a safe, calm environment, and access to basic needs are shared among many. They want to enjoy the beauty of their seaside community year-round, not just seasonally.
“One of the things that people notice right off the bat is that once they pass the amusement park, it looks underdeveloped. It’s not like Bay Ridge. It’s not like Sheepshead Bay. It’s just a place that’s under-resourced, and we would like for it one day to look like any other Brooklyn neighborhood,” said Frontus. “Why do we have to have a casino to accomplish that?”
