Carol Hill Albert, co-owner of Astroland, said yesterday: "I have given up on trying to get Thor to negotiate, which I have attempted to do every month since June, and numerous times in August. Each time their response was, 'We have no answer.' ... It takes six months to pack up a three-acre amusement park that has been in operation for 46 years, so a January 31st deadline means start packing yesterday. We are out of time. [Astroland] will cease operations permanently at the end of the day on Sunday, September 7th."
Development on Coney actually started out in "grand playground for the rich" mode, with the island's various sections gradually cycling over the decades into "backyard getaway for everybody" mode, and finally (over the last few decades) decaying physically but starting to blossom culturally. There were annual art/costume parades that were focal points of summer for many New Yorkers, the Village Voice's annual Siren Festival, and exhibits and installation projects from the likes of Creative Time (NYC's biggest public-art funding/producing org). In the broadest view, this might be just another swing toward grand-playground land that eventually gives way to another era of freewheeling arts/culture for the people. But it's certainly -- at least for the moment -- the end of an era.
A few of my Astroland snapshots from a fun visit there with Alex, five years ago:
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