"They're going to destroy the magic," said Baker (42) resting between acts at a freak show that also featured a sword swallower and "elephant woman."

Nearly everyone — even Baker and fellow sideshow colleagues — agrees that an increasingly decrepit Coney Island needs a makeover.

But a plan passed overwhelmingly by the City Council last week to develop the gritty seafront area in south Brooklyn is sparking controversy.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said after the vote that the plan will "return Coney Island to its former glory, ensure its future as a year-round destination for visitors and create a more livable, vibrant community for its residents."

National treasure into bland money spinner

Critics, though, see an agenda to turn a gaudy national treasure into a bland money spinner.

"It's a plan for the rich," said Baker, a gangly man with a mustache and, he claims, the world record for banging nails with a hammer through his nose.

The decline of Coney Island began more than half a century ago as urban crisis, social change and property disputes stymied development along the sprawling city beach.

Today the area is a bizarre, raffish mix of the attractive and atrocious.

Many of the most famous 20th century attractions, like Astroland, have disappeared.

Venerable, shaky rides like the Wonder Wheel and Cyclone rub shoulders with tawdry shops pumping out rap music and selling cheap wares.

The delicious aroma of hot dogs, said to have been invented here, mixes with the stench of urine and rain-soaked garbage.

Drunks on the cracked sidewalks easily rival the phony scares of the Spookarama ghost train.

And on slow, hot afternoons, freak show operators forlornly urge a trickle of customers to witness the headless woman, mermaid or two-headed cow.

Robert McKeiver, a 60-year-old chauffeur, remembers coming as a child and barely being able to find space on the adjacent beach, which stretches just beyond the huge boardwalk.

"This place was jammed," he recalled, shaking his head at the way things turned out. "Something needs to be done. I'd like to see things open 365 days a year, not just in season. There should be stuff you can do indoors too."

The city plan promises just that: "a year-round, open and accessible amusement destination."

The official proposal includes a wide-ranging overhaul of the area, adding entertainment complexes, big hotels and housing, but still adhering to "Coney Island's unique character."

Locals — ride operators, burlesque performers, and historians — fear the plan plays into the hands of big developers like Thor Equities, which owns the heart of the district.

Less rides, more malls

They argue the total area zoned for outdoor amusements will shrink and that the rest will be consumed by mall-type shopping. Although affordable housing is promised, some critics suspect lucrative condominium projects will follow.

"There's not enough acres left, after you stick in all these hotels and stuff that doesn't belong in the amusement area, for rides," the self-appointed "mayor" of Coney Island, Dick Zigun, warns in a video address.

"They're giving financial incentives to destroy Coney Island's few historic buildings," he fumed. "There's more left of ancient Rome than turn-of-the-century Coney Island."

Carnival veteran Monica Ghee, challenging tourists to try their strength with a mammoth hammer, said she felt helpless as the rich haggled over what to do with her run-down, yet beloved park.

"…I wish it would stay the same…"

"They squeeze you out so that the rich people can come in," sighed Ghee, a tiny woman of 59.

"I wish it could stay the same (as) it was, but it's already too late. But as for all those fancy condominiums coming in, I hope I'm dead and buried by then."

The details have yet to be ironed out, but the New York Times reported that the city is close to buying back more than half of Thor Equities' land, something which might allow further negotiations with preservationists about what to build.

But already there is an sense of imminent change in New York's quirkiest corner.

On a recent afternoon, passersby stopped, open-mouthed, to gaze as a giant 1959 Cadillac cruised down Surf Avenue, its Batman-style black tail fins and white wheel rims recalling a long-gone era of fantasy and confidence.

A man in string vest turned to onlookers and announced: "That time ain't ever coming back. It ain't coming back."

Visit www.coneyisland.com to find out more.

AFP

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