New York City Council Member Mark Treyger standing on the Coney Island Boardwalk. Image credit: Council Member Treyger’s Office

The City Council resolution has garnered unanimous support by the Council’s Members and other elected officials. On May 4, 2016, the City Council Land Use Committee will hear testimony on a resolution to urge the Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the Riegelmann Boardwalk—most commonly known as the Coney Island Boardwalk—as a New York City Landmark. The resolution, sponsored by Brooklyn Council Member Mark Treyger, is a way to protect the Boardwalk from physical alterations, which threaten to alter its historical character and physical nature.

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Ocean Dreams development along Coney Island’s Reigelmann Boardwalk. Image: Courtesy of Dattner Architects.

Multi-building project will create 415 rental units along Coney Island’s boardwalk. On September 8, 2011, the City Council approved John Catsimatidis’s proposed 415- unit, mixed-use project on two vacant parcels on the western end of Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island. The project site consists of an eastern and western parcel separated by West 36th Street and bounded by Surf Avenue to the north, the boardwalk to the south, West 35th Street to the east, and West 37th Street to the west. The site is located nine blocks west of the Coney Island Special District which the City created in 2009 to revitalize the area. 6 CityLand 104 (Aug. 15, 2009).

The 428,000 sq.ft. project, known as Ocean Dreams, will include both low- and high-rise structures to provide 415 market-rate apartments, 418 parking spaces, and up to 24,750 sq.ft. of commercial space. In 2005, the site’s former owner received City approval for a 313-unit project, also known as Ocean Dreams, which was never developed. 2 CityLand 137 (Oct. 15, 2005).

On the western parcel, Catsimatidis will build a three- to five story L-shaped building with a fourteen-story tower rising to 164 feet. The building will include 104 apartments and 3,640 sq.ft. of groundfloor retail space along Surf Avenue. The eastern parcel will feature a U-shaped building with a three- to six-story base opening to the boardwalk. The building will include an eighteen-story tower on the east side of the parcel and a 22-story tower on the west side of the parcel. This building will provide 311 apartments with 11,570 sq.ft. of retail space along Surf Avenue and up to 9,580 sq.ft. of potential retail space along the boardwalk. The fourteen-story building will house a 149-space enclosed parking garage, and the multi-tower building would include a 269-space enclosed garage. The garages will be built above grade due to the area’s high water table. Landscaped courtyards above the garages will feature recreational facilities for the buildings’ residents.

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