Gag Reflex: At Least One Coney Gag Rule Isn’t Legal

At least one Coney Island gag provision in a lease (though not the one that Thor Equities forced most tenants to sign as a condition of renewing their leases for the 2007 season) has been found illegal. The saga of the Coney Island Arcade is detailed in Time Out New York. Yesterday, Dianna Carlin (Lola Staar) sent out an email about the latest development that said:

Jeff Persily, a land owner in Coney Island, forced his tenants to sign the exact same Confidentiality Clause that Thor Equities forced down their tenants’ throats. It is speculated that Jeff Persily is partnering with Thor in their scheme to build Condos within the Amusement District. Manny Cohen has owned the Coney Island Arcade and has been Persily’s tenant for roughly 20 years. Manny refused to sign his 2007 Agreement due to this Confidentiality Clause. Persily took him to court to evict him yesterday. At this court date, the judge ruled that the Confidentiality Clause in the Agreement was not legal. The judge told Persily’s lawyer that they had to negotiate a fair Agreement and that the Confidentiality Clause was not fair. This is a very significant ruling because most of the Coney Island businesses have been forced this very same Clause…

Today Manny plans to unveil a large tomb stone on the corner of the Bowery and 12th Street. This tomb stone reads Coney Island RIP and accuses Joe Sitt and Jeff Persily of being dictators. It also includes a copy of the illegal Confidentiality Clause that the two land owners have forced their tenants to sign.

Did someone suggest that Ms. Carlin was going to roll over and play dead after her lease (without a gag order) was renewed by Mr. Sitt following the Save Coney Island demonstration and a ton of bad press? Not looking like it.

Related Posts:
Gag Me: Why Do Mr. Sitt and Mr. Ratner Like Silence?
Legal Gag Removed, Coney Island’s Lola Staar Speaks

UPDATE: Mr. Cohen’s landlord writes to say: “As Mr. Cohen’s landlord I can assure that the judge made no such ruling in reagrd to an unfair or unjust ‘gag rule.’ Mr Cohen was taken to court only because of his continuing failure to tender his rent which in fact is still owing from last season. If such a ruling was made by a judge surely it would be in the public domain, nobody can or will find it because it is fictional and does not exist. If Mr. Cohen pays his rent he can stay if he doesn’t he will be evicted. Can we hold ourselves to a higher standard and at least attempt to print what is actual and true. No that would never be as controversial or interesting, just continue to conjure up and fabricate more nonsense about the big bad landowners.”

Coney Island #2: The Lola Staar Controversy

Don’t look now, but Lola Staar‘s return to the boardwalk has prompted a bit of a controversy among the regulars at the Coney Island Message Board. Words like “sell out” are being used to suggest that Dianna Carlin (aka Lola) used the Save Coney Island protest to get her store back after she’d been evicted by Thor Equities developer Joe Sitt. Ms. Carlin, for her part, sent out a press release yesterday saying that “I intend to continue with the Save Coney Island Organization and to stand up for my beliefs about how Coney Island should be redeveloped.” She did not have to sign a “gag rule” as part of her lease, an objection to which led to her eviction in the first place.

The objections to Ms. Carlin’s return to the boardwalk seem to range from everything from the fact that she is not a “real” Brooklynite (and that, as someone that wasn’t born and raised in the borough, she has no right to hold and voice opinions about Brooklyn) to the fact that she caters to “hipsters.” Ms. Carlin, who despite her cheerful demeanor seems quite capable of giving as good as she gets (just ask Mr. Sitt), has fired back with her own responses. Ms. Carlin writes:

I started Save Coney Island (which now has over 1,200 members) and organized the “No Condos in Coney” demonstration on the steps of City Hall. My goal for Save Coney Island was to create an organization which would spread information about the redevelopment, give people the opportunity to discuss and express their opinions and ideas about Coney Island, and to organize events which would publicly express these opinions and convictions about the redevelopment. Mr. Sitt was frightened by the negative press and the growing resistance against his plan. This caused him contact me. I agree that Mr. Sitt’s decision to evict me and to offer me my store back were very contrived decisions which he ultimately hoped would work to his advantage. Regardless, it is positive that it has open up a dialogue about his plan.

We believe the issues of Ms. Carlin’s store and her position on Coney Island redevelopment are very different ones. We were thrilled to find her back and, frankly, found the prospect of the boardwalk without her and her merchandise depressing. When we first talked to Ms. Carlin several months ago, she had lost the heart of her business. When we saw her on Saturday, she was happy and smiling. No one deserves to lose their livelihood because they want to speak their mind or to have to make a choice between a business and free speech (although we’re aware that people make these choices every day). We are very happy for her.

As for “Save Coney Island,” there is nothing wrong with sitting down with a gentleman who potentially holds Coney Island’s future in the palm of his hand. We frankly wish that Mr. Sitt and his team would reach out more broadly to those with an interest in a place with such a rich history. Building consensus is important, and Thor has not done a very good job of creating bridges.

We have talked and corresponded a great deal with Ms. Carlin. We don’t think she will let Mr. Sitt off the hook or stop voicing her opinions about Coney Island because she has a lease.

You go, Lola.

Related Posts:
“Coney Island Miracle”? Lola Staar is Back

"Coney Island Miracle"? Lola Staar is Back

Lola Staar is back on the Coney Island Boardwalk in her old space. You might remember that she became the most prominent victim of developer Joe Sitt’s Coney Island evictions and demolitions and subsequently led a “Save Coney Island” demonstration on the steps of City Hall. Dianna Carlin (AKA Lola) told us that Mr. Sitt called her two days before the demonstration, setting off a chain of events that culminated in a new lease with very favorable terms on the boardwalk space she had occupied.

“It’s a Coney Island miracle,” she told us. “It’s a miracle.”

We were walking down the boardwalk in Coney Island yesterday when we saw that the space Ms. Carlin had occupied was open. The closer we got to the store, the more familiar the merchandise looked. When we went inside, we saw a familiar head of red hair. We shrugged as if to ask Ms. Carlin what was going on.

“I didn’t tell you?” she smiled.

Uh, no.

Ms. Carlin then told us the long story as she dealt with a steady stream of customers on her first day open again, several of whom were familiar with her ordeal. As the Pixies blasted in the background, customers bought bags, towels and t-shirts and told Lola they were glad she was back. Ms. Carlin was in the process of putting her store back together–some of the merchandise was still in storage as was her credit card processing machine.

We’ll have full details of our conversation tomorrow and the “make nice and try to win over your opponents” strategy that Mr. Sitt seems to have adopted. (Another “evicted” business is open too.) Meantime, that’s Dianna above, in her wonderful boardwalk store yesterday. Full update on Monday.

Related Posts:
Savey Coney Island Demonstration Rocks City Hall
Legal Gag Removed, Coney Island’s Lola Staar Speaks Out