Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Coney Island 8 May Take Dead End Deal for One Last Summer
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 16, 2011
Modified Feb 16, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 16, 2011
Modified Feb 16, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The eight businesses on the Coney Island boardwalk that have been fighting eviction may accept a deal that would allow them to stay for one last summer, but guarantee their eviction at the end of the season. The foreign-run amusement giant Zamerpla, which controls the lease to the NYC-owned property, has for months been locked in a legal battle with Ruby's Bar & Grill, Beer Island, Paul's Daughter, the Grill House, Cha Cha's, Gyro Corner, Shoot the Freak and Coney Island Souvenirs. But now Amusing the Zillion reports that the owners are being offered leases for the 2011 season, on the condition that they go quietly in November.
Linda Gross, a spokesperson for the so-called Coney Island Eight, tells us, "Both sides have, indeed, been talking. I really don’t have any specifics and we expect that at today’s hearing the case will be postponed." (The eviction hearing has been repeatedly postponed for months, and today was in fact postponed again, to March 7th.) Sources tell ATZ "the lease stipulations include a confidentiality or nondisclosure clause, which would restrict the Coney Island 8 from making public statements about the situation." Shoot the Freak would reportedly open for the summer at a different spot, since its location was illegally torn down to make way for an entrance to Zamperla's new "Scream Zone."
Ruby's co-owner Michael Sarrel tells the Daily News, "When you have a loaded gun to your head, and your choice is you could do this or we'll pull the trigger, you don't want the trigger to get pulled just yet." And another business owner who declined to speak on the record told the News, "It doesn't give us another home after next year, [but] it's better than nothing. They have the lease to the property. We don't."
Ironically, taxes collected from the Coney Island Eight and millions of other New Yorkers enabled the city to buy the property at extortionary rates from "developer" Joe Sitt. This property belongs to the people, but we suppose it's naive to expect the Bloomberg administration to let local businesses—who've been at Coney Island through the rough decades—to keep their seat at the table.
Tagged
coney island
coney island boardwalk
coney island eight
ruby's bar and grill
zamperla
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
Published Oct 17, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. ET
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .