A Coney Island of The Mind

 The New York Daily News recounts the historic zoning battle that's shaping up over Coney Island:

Coney Island is facing the most important neighborhood rezoning in the history of New York City. What happens here affects the economic future of South Brooklyn’s coast and the entire borough. It will severely impact New York’s tourism figures and global reputation as a city that can care for its historic yet decaying neighborhoods, or one that cannot.

That’s why the mayor’s office, committed to a five-borough plan, has moved full-force ahead with revitalizing the area. It’s also why special-interest groups, city departments, land developers, neighborhood planners, architects and old-time Brooklynites have such strong opinions. All matter, but some serve only to encumber development of a once-glorious city icon that now looks like a war zone in winter and a hodgepodge of amusements in summer.

Steve Clowney