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Astroland owner Carol Hill Albert, whose husband's family had owned the park since 1962, sold the site to developer Thor Equities in November 2006 for an undisclosed amount. Thor proposed a $1.5 billion renovation and expansion of the Coney Island amusement area to include hotels, shopping, movies, an indoor water park and the city's first new roller coaster since the Cyclone. The Municipal Art Society launched the initiative ImagineConey, in early 2007, as discussion of a rezoning plan that highly favored housing and hotels began circulating from the Department of City Planning[13]. MAS held several public workshops, a call for ideas, and a charrette to garner attention to the issue. City Planning certified the rezoning plan in January 2009 to negative responses from all amusement advocates and Coney Island enthusiasts. The plan is currently working through the ULURP process. Thor Equities has said it hopes to complete the project by 2011. The Aquarium is also planning a renovation.

 

The Cyclone roller coaster, built in 1927, is one of the nation's oldest wooden coasters still in operation. A favorite of some coaster aficionados, the Cyclone includes an 85-foot (26 m), 60 degree drop. It is owned by the City, and operated by Astroland, under a franchise agreement. It is located across the street from Astroland.

 

Bumper cars. There are three separate bumper car rides in Coney Island, located in Astroland, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, and Eldorado's Arcade on Surf Avenue.

 

Tornado, a roller coaster constructed in 1926. It suffered a series of small fires which made the structure unstable and was torn down in 1977.

 

Coney Island still maintains a broad sandy beach from West 37th Street at Seagate through the Coney Island and Brighton Beach to the beginning of the community of Manhattan Beach, a distance of approximately 2½ miles (~4.0 km). The beach is continuous and is served for its entire length by the broad Riegelmann boardwalk. A number of amusements are directly accessible from the land side of the boardwalk, as is the New York Aquarium and a variety of food shops and arcades.

 

The Mermaid Parade, which takes place on Surf Avenue and the boardwalk, featuring floats and various acts, has been produced annually by Coney Island U.S.A. — a non-profit arts organization which is dedicated to preserving the dignity of American Popular Culture. The group, which was established in 1979, also produces the Coney Island Film Festival, Burlesque At The Beach, and Creepshow at the Freakshow (an interactive Halloween-themed event), and houses the Coney Island Museum.

 

Its main subway station is called Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and is reached by the New York City Subway trains of the D F N Q. The three main avenues in the Coney Island community, are (north to south) Neptune Avenue (which crosses to the mainland to become Emmons Avenue), Mermaid Avenue, and Surf Avenue (which becomes Ocean Parkway and then runs north towards Brooklyn's Prospect Park).

The cross streets in the Coney Island neighborhood proper are numbered with "West" prepended to their numbers, running from West 1st Street to West 37th Street at the border of Sea Gate.

The majority of Coney Island's population resides in approximately thirty 18- to 24-story towers, mostly various forms of public housing. In between the towers are many blocks that were filled with burned out and vacant buildings. Since the 1990s there has been steady revitalization of the area. Many townhouses were built on empty lots, popular franchises have set up shop, and Keyspan Park was built to serve as the home for the Cyclones, a minor league baseball team in the New York Mets' farm system.

 

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