A while back, Thor Equities announced that it would have a flea market called “Flea by the Sea” in summer 2009 on the big empty lot it owns on Stillwell Avenue, between the Bowery and the boardwalk. (The lot is empty because he demolished all the rides and attractions two winters ago.) L...

[Photo for GL courtesy of Deborah Matlack] This is the Lola Staar Boutique, one of the gems of the Coney Island boardwalk, being cleared out. The photo was captured by our dedicated contributor Deborah Matlack. Ms. Staar (Dianna Carlin) has been an outspoken critic of developer Joe Sitt and was told...

[All photos courtesy of Pablo Jonesy/Coney Island Message Board] The latest from Coney Island came yesterday when Dick Zigun of Coney Island USA reported that a firm working for Thor Equities had put up no trespassing signs on buildings that also have huge Thor FOR LEASE signs. (If we had to do PR f...

EV Grieve takes a look-see at the Holland Bar situation. [EV Grieve] Some more typical anti-New York behavior from Bloomberg's City Hall. [NY Post] More Coney Island soap opera grist, with developer Joe Sitt maybe going down to defeat, finally, but (of course) making a profit in the process. [NY Pos...

Remember the Summer of Hope proclaimed back in May by Thor Equities as this summer’s Coney theme with rides occupying property on which the developer had demolished attractions in the winter of 2006-07? As it turns out, it would appear that “summer” is ending early. Regulars on the...

The jukebox at Ruby’s Bar & Grill was cranking out its usual eclectic mix of beachy classics—Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers In the Night,� Milli Vanilli’s “Blame It on the Rain�—this past Saturday when proprietor Michael Sarrel abruptly pulled the plug. “Finish your drinks!� he...

Having gotten a good sense yesterday of what Coney Island will look like and feel like this season, several conclusions emerge: 1) Because developer Joe Sitt has put property that was allowed to sit empty last year back into service, Coney will have more businesses operating this year and, possibly,...

Pat Singer, the founder of the Brighton Beach Neighbors Association, has lived in the Brooklyn neighborhood for 44 years. But she is not, as she estimates roughly 80 percent of her neighbors are, a Russian immigrant, and does not speak the language. So she had a hard time one evening around Thanksgi...

[Renderings courtesy of Curbed and Racked] This, friends, is the first look at the humongous Red Hook Mall planned by developer Joe Sitt on the site of the former Revere Sugar Dome. This blockbuster comes courtesy of our compadres at Curbed and at Racked, which have full photogalleries of the plans....