Coney Shed Construction Imminent?

Construction could soon be under way for a long-discussed amphitheater project at Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York. 

Photo: Jim Henderson / Wikimedia Commons
on Coney Island

Officials would like to transform the historic Childs Restaurant on Coney Island into a 5,000-seat venue and minor work has apparently begun on the building already.

Though the city has yet to finalize a deal with a real estate firm that owns the restaurant, a developer has already filed for construction permits and knocked down a portion of wall on the western side of the building, the Brooklyn Daily reported.

The city is expected to pay a real estate firm $53 million for the building and lease it back to the developers until 2025, the paper added. Borough president Marty Markowitz has been championing the construction of a venue for years and originally pushed for a $64 million, Gensler-designed amphitheatre in Asser Levy Park.

That plan faced legal setbacks and intense criticism from locals in the area.