Thor a Sponsor of Polar Bears Coney New Years Swim

The fact that Thor Equities is a sponsor of the Polar Bears Club New Year’s swim has sparked a debate between members of the Coney Island crew. We noticed this because of a thread on the Coney Island Message Board called “Coney Island Polar Bear Club are Sellouts!!!!” The first entry says:

Never thought that I’d see the day when this club would be involved in an event with Thor. Makes your speeches at the save Coney rally deemed meaningless. Shame on the Polar Bear Club.

The reference to the “rally” is to club president Louie Scarcella‘s vocal opposition to Thor’s Coney plans at a Save Coney Island Rally earlier this year. Here’s Mr. Scarcella’s response, which is interesting in terms of both Thor and other businesses in Coney Island:

…Now hear this and hear this good. For the last four years NO ONE, NO ONE in Coney Island except for Steve at Steve’s Grill house has supported us. People, I know everybody in Coney Island, I have been here and worked here 35 years AND NO ONE offered one red cent. A very well know bar on the boardwalk, which I will not mention, told us to drop dead when we asked them to place jars for donations for the Special Olympics on the bar two years ago. Yes, they refused to help this great cause. This makes me sick. This establishment has made thousands of dollars every New Years Day for many years. If it wasen’t for our club, they would remain closed…if Thor is willing to help me and my club raise money for kids with cancer, I say God bless him. As for calling us sellouts, don’t anyone dare to call this great club sellouts. If anyone wants to talk about this in person I am at Stilwell ave and the boards every Saturday and Sunday at noon…Remember what I have learned…no one in Coney Island except for Carol Albert and Dino at the Wounderwheel gives back to the community. All they are interestd in is THE LAST DOLLAR to be made on any given day. I promise you this is true.

Those of you who know me know that I love Coney Island more than any other place on earth. I will do everything to fight condos and hotels that may become condos. This Thor knows. I want the Coney Island of yesteryear to return. I hope in the coming years I live to see the changes. The changes that will make us, the poeple who love Coney Island happy. Sellouts, no not by a long shot.

The comments about other businesses are as interesting as those about Thor. The full thread and text of the email is here. Details on the New Year’s swim, proceeds from which support Camp Sunshine, are available here. The bears are trying to raise $50,000 for the camp for children.

Revere Sugar A Year Later: Thor’s Work is Almost Done

Demolition permits to level Red Hook’s iconic Revere Dome were issued on December 6, 2006. A couple of days later, crews working for developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities were on site starting prep work for the big tear down. The job continued through the winter, spring, summer and into the fall. (For those with demolition porn nostalgia, you can watch the Revere Dome diminish over the months by clicking here.) Now, a year later, almost nothing remains on the Revere site and work is still going on. A huge vacant plot of land sticking out into the water next to the blue-and-yellow Ikea, the Revere site is now ready for development or for sale as a cleared property. Critical, necessary zoning changes not included.

Sitt Fences Falling in Coney Island

Looks like a certain major Coney Island landowner is having an upkeep problem on his properties. This photo shows some problems with developer Joe Sitt’s fences in Coney Island that appear to have developed in that long, harsh Coney Island off-season. It comes from the very active poster known as Captain Nemo (aka Bruce) on the Coney Island Message Board. From the number of panels on the ground, it puts any problem that Whole Foods has had in Gowanus or other persistent offenders in Williamsburg have to shame. Well, to Thor’s credit the land isn’t toxic and there aren’t mounds of rubble and possible collapsing structures on the property.

A View of Red Hook’s Changing Beard Street as Ikea Rises

We were prompted to scan the hard drives yesterday and, among other things, pulled up some long shots down Beard Street in Red Hook taken over the last 18 months. Here is a small series.

For the Record: A Detailed, Scary Coney Rendering

In case you missed this over at Kinetic Carnival or Curbed yesterday, we find this rendering of a possible future for Coney Island utterly riveting in a bad car crash sort of way. We understand that it from a scheme that is no longer the working one, yet the scale of the new development and some of the design ideas are worth viewing at this level of detail. Note the height of the buildings at street level, the “canyon effect,” and the scale of the towers. (Also,the blue water.) Time and again we have posted about the height of the buildings that are in the Thor Coney Island proposal and this rendering shows in a very graphic way what some of the opponents of the plan are concerned about.

From Red Hook: Revere Falling

Only the smokestack is now left. Erin “Sniffy” Norris took these amazing photos of one of the last big pieces of the old Revere Plant in Red Hook being pulled to the ground. It remains unclear what developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities, which cleared the property, intend to with it, although they will likely try get approval for high-rise condos and a fairly large retail complex.

Weekend Team Thor Update

There is an important update in the still developing story of the roster of the Thor Equities Coney Island team. You might recall that, on Wednesday, Lee Silberstein of the Marino Organization, which has handled public relations for the embattled Coney Island redevelopment plan, let people know that he was no longer on the Thor job. The next day, we found out that the firm working as Thor’s land use attorney, Kramer Levin, was also off the Coney job. Yesterday, Crains filled in some important detail on the identity of the new players:

In a sign that Thor Equities is gearing up for a fight over the Bloomberg administration’s proposal for rezoning of Coney Island, the company has hired James Capalino of Capalino & Co. and Knickerbocker SKD to handle its lobbying, public relations and outreach moving forward. Landowner Thor has submitted several designs for remaking the amusement park, but the Department of City Planning has rejected them and is expected to present its own vision this fall. A Bloomberg administration spokesman says, “We remain committed to our objectives for Coney Island and are looking forward to working with stakeholders to achieve them.”

Mr. Capalino is a former commissioner in the Koch Administration. One of our very informed Coney sources confirmed that both the Marino Organization and Kramer Levin were dismissed by developer Joe Sitt. “Joe apparently isn’t listening to anyone who isn’t telling him what he wants to hear,” he observes.

More Departures from Thor’s Coney Island Team

Yesterday, we noted in a post on Curbed that Thor Equities and developer Joe Sitt had parted company with spokesperson Lee Silberstein and the Marino Organization. It was unclear who had initiated the split. This morning we can report, based on a tip from another reliable source, that Thor has also parted ways with Kramer Levin, the firm acting as its land use attorney. In fact, our source reports that the lawyers “abandoned ship,” which would seem to indicate that they jumped rather than were pushed. However, the cause of the abandonment is unclear.

Even if you are not into personnel moves, the changes are interesting. With the Coney Island process and negotiations seemingly at a critical juncture, the departure of key team members certainly would seem to raise the possibility that things may not be going as well as the developer had hoped. Or that they may, in fact, be going quite badly and that creatures are abandoning the USS Sitt. This is pure conjecture on our part, but it would seem odd that team members would be quitting or being fired if things were going well and the developer was on the verge of announcing that things will be moving forward as planned.

Thor Hits YouTube (Part II) with Mermaid Parade Vid

Enjoy. Go over directly if the embed is bothering you by clicking here.

Thor Hits YouTube (Part I) with Monday Movie Madness Promo

Found on the YouTube and also noted by Kinetic Carnival. Visit it directly by clicking here if there is a problem with the embed.