ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A New Road Forward:

Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

Prepared for the Church Avenue BID

by the Pratt Center for Community Development
December 2010
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to the NYC Department of Small Business Services and the Empire State Development
Corporation for funding this initiative.

Thanks to the following for lending their support to this planning process:

Professor Jonathan Martin and Assistant Professor Alison Schneider and students from the Fall 2009 Pratt Institute
graduate planning studio class
Madina Restaurant
Mohammad Razvi and Reza Hasan, COPO (Council of Peoples Organization)
Georges Jacquemart, Principal, Buckhurst, Fish & Jacquemart, Inc.
Justin Bland, Pratt Center intern
Sadra Shahab, Pratt Center intern
Coney Island Avenue advisory committee:
Sandy Aboulafia
Linda Cohen
Roberta Feinstein
Anne Gaudet
Kyle Gebhart
Rosemarie Hester
Emily Hultman
Ron Klein-Handler
Michael Joy
Eric Landau
Chris Bockelmann Norris
Anne Pope
Kristina Preussner
Hasan Raza
Bill Seery
Mariana Slepovitch
Courtney Williams
Glenn Wolin
Liena Zagare

Cover photo by Lorna Keuning

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction 4

II. Existing and Emerging Conditions 8

III. Retail Analysis 14

IV. What We Heard 18

V. Vision Statement 21

VI. Recommendations 22

VII. Conclusion & Next Steps 28

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

3
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
With beginnings as a Native American footpath to a 30-
year stint as the route of the horse-drawn Coney Island
and Brooklyn Railroad (which took people to the popular
Coney Island seaside resort), to its 65-year history as the
Coney Island Avenue electric-powered railroad (which was
discontinued in 1966), Coney Island Avenue has devel-
oped into a five-mile long major thoroughfare that stretch-
es from the southwest corner of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park
to Coney Island itself. Unlike neighboring thoroughfares
like Flatbush Avenue to the east and Ocean Parkway to
the west, Coney Island Avenue owes more of its history to
the efforts of private actors (e.g., the various companies
that built its transportation lines over the years) than to
public sector-sponsored planning interventions.
Today, mixed-use buildings with commercial establish-
ments on the first-floor and housing on the upper floors
characterize the avenue’s built form, along with low-rise
structures that house auto and construction-related ser-
vice businesses. Multiple vehicular travel lanes in both
directions, a local bus, and an express bus help contrib-
ute to its status as a heavily trafficked corridor.
This report will examine Coney Island Avenue’s
northernmost section (from Parkside Avenue to Cortelyou
Road), which serves as an oft-cited boundary between
several residential neighborhoods. On the west side of
the corridor, the Kensington neighborhood developed
after Ocean Parkway was built; it has a variety of housing
types and is extremely ethnically diverse. Parkville is a
small neighborhood to its south that is home to a large
Pakistani population, many of whom are recent arrivals
to the U.S. On the east side of the avenue just south of
the Parade Ground, the Caton Park neighborhood has
a high-density residential building stock and is home to
many African American and West Indian households. To
its south, a suburban-esque housing stock characterizes
the neighborhoods of Prospect Park South and Ditmas
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
Park. These neighborhoods were designed in the late
1800’s to be a physical (and socio-economic) refuge from
the hustle and bustle of city life; the large, architecturally
rich, single-family houses with large yards reflect this.
Brooklyn’s until recently hot real estate market reached
these neighborhoods (sometimes collectively referred to
as “Victorian Flatbush”), creating higher rents and hous-
ing values and helping pave the way for higher-end shops
and restaurants to open on Cortelyou Road. The real es-
tate boom did not truly reach Coney Island Avenue before
its recent decline; most of the avenue’s new development
projects of the last few years are currently stalled.
Stalled development at Hinckley Place Photo: Liena Zagare
Origin and purpose of the project
Despite its strategic and highly visible location just south
of Prospect Park and the Parade Ground, and adjacent
to neighborhoods with relatively strong real estate and
growing immigrant populations, there is widespread
sentiment among local residents that the northernmost
section avenue leaves much to be desired. Unwelcoming,
dangerous, and obstacle-ridden sidewalks and a relative-
ly weak selection of goods and services mean that many
people simply avoid the corridor altogether or use it only
when absolutely necessary.
Recognizing the untapped potential of Coney Island Av-
enue, the Church Avenue Business Improvement District
4
INTRODUCTION

Study Area and Vicinity

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A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

5
INTRODUCTION
(i.e., “the BID”) received funding from the New York City
Department of Small Business Service’s “Avenue NYC”
program to study the corridor’s northernmost stretch.
The BID (whose service area is Church Avenue between
Coney Island Avenue and Flatubsh Avenue) is interested
in exploring how Coney Island Avenue could be a “gate-
way” to the Church Avenue community and the greater
Flatbush neighborhood by attracting people from places
like Prospect Park and the Parade Ground. Apart from
the BID’s interest and proximity to the avenue’s northern
section, limited resources prevented this study from tak-
ing on the entire five-mile long corridor; as such, the study
area is from Parkside Avenue to Cortelyou Road.
The overarching goal of the planning study is to recom-
mend a series of preliminary steps that should be taken
as part of a multi-pronged apporach to revitalize Coney
Island Avenue’s northern stretch and help it better meet
local needs.
Who is this for?
Part of the challenge with the northern stretch of Coney
Island Avenue is that it lacks any sort of organization to
act as its steward (e.g., business improvement district,
local development corporation, merchants’ associa-
tion, etc). Adding to this, the stretch of the street from
Prospect Park all the way down to 18th Avenue is the
boundary between two police precincts and two commu-
nity districts: one side of the street belongs to one, and
the other side of the street to the other. From Prospect
Park to Church Avenue, the street also is the dividing
line between two school districts and two City Council
districts. Due to this condition, at best, there is confusion
about jurisdiction and catchment areas, and at worst, the
avenue is overlooked and ignored.
In addition to its peripheral status at the edge of so
many “districts,” Coney Island Avenue has distinct sets
of stakeholders, each of whom has a different perspec-
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
tive on the corridor. There is the longtime cluster of
auto-related facilities that are zoned to do business there
and their customer base, not all of which lives nearby.
There are the merchants who own small shops such as
bodegas and small eateries. Finally, there are the people
and families who live in the residential neighborhoods on
either side of the avenue. Some of them regularly patron-
ize businesses there, but many of them do not. We made
efforts to engage each of these sets of interests to help
inform this report, but due to limited resources for doing
labor and time-intensive merchant outreach (especially
vis a vis the relative ease of designing, disseminating,
and analyzing the results of a shopper survey), the voices
of nearby residents ultimately emerged as the strongest.
Even though there are different constituencies for the
avenue, their aspirations are not inherently contradic-
tory. As such, this report is intended to inspire a new
path forward for Coney Island Avenue for anyone or any
group with a stake in its future. It does not lay out a
comprehensive development plan per se, but it outlines a
platform of actions around which interested stakeholders
can organize to make fundamental improvements to Co-
ney Island Avenue while laying the groundwork for future
formal planning engagements.
Project Methodology
To help it complete this study, the BID hired the Pratt
Center for Community Development as a technical con-
sultant. Building on the work done by a Fall 2009 Pratt
Institute graduate planning land use studio course that
focused on Coney Island Avenue (between Parkside and
Cortelyou), the Pratt Center gathered primary and second-
ary data to gain an understanding of how factors such
as existing zoning, land use patterns, business practices,
traffic conditions, and attitudes of nearby residents all
contribute to the set of conditions we see on the avenue
today.
From the outset of preparing this planning study, the
6
INTRODUCTION

Church Avenue BID placed a high priority on public

participation, both as a tenet of a community-based
approach to planning and because there currently is
no organization that acts as a steward for the northern
section of Coney Island Avenue. As such, the BID wanted
to assemble a locally-based advisory committee for the
project with whom we could share findings and consult
with about their thoughts and aspirations for the avenue.
We spent the first several weeks of the project conducting
outreach to the various groups of people who collec-
tively are the avenue’s local stakeholders. We recruited
potential participants for the committee in several ways,
including announcing the initiative at meetings of Com-
munity Boards 12 and 14, making contacts with local
neighborhood associations and non-profit organizations,
and knocking on the doors of businesses on the avenue.
Ultimately, we assembled a group of volunteer advisory
committee members who over the past few months have
provided feedback, ideas, and other types of support for
this effort.

There were other ways in which we consulted with the

community: we published an online survey of shoppers
and other “users” (which 375 people completed) to better
understand how local residents and other stakeholders
relate to Coney Island Avenue, and we interviewed some
of the merchants who operate businesses there.

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

7
EXISTING AND EMERGING CONDITIONS
Before recommending ways forward for the avenue, it is
important to examine some of the fundamental condi-
tions and regulations that interweave with eachother to
make northern Coney Island Avenue what it is today. By
having a better understanding of factors such as zoning
types and boundaries, land use patterns, demographics,
and the corridor’s physical characteristics and conditions,
our recommendations for effecting change are more
likely to be rooted in reality.
Zoning
The zoning pattern on the east side of Coney Island Ave-
nue differs from the west side in that the former is zoned
for residential development, and the latter is largely
zoned for auto-related and industrial uses. The following
explains this in more detail. For even more information
about allowable building densities, height limits, and uses
allowed under certain zoning districts, please refer to the
Department of City Planning’s Zoning Handbook, an an-
notated guide to the city’s zoning resolution with helpful
photographs, diagrams, and charts.
Auto businesses on the west side Photo: Justin Bland
Commercial zoning districts
The east side of the avenue (which was recently rezoned
as part of a 2009 rezoning of the Flatbush neighborhood)
has a commercial “C2-4” zoning overlay, a commercial
zoning district that is overlaid onto a base residential
zone. This commercial zoning designation allows for
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
8
smaller retail stores that are typically on the ground floor
-- with apartments on the upper floors -- and that cater to
the immediate neighborhood (e.g., grocery stores, beauty
parlors, and funeral homes).
The west side of the avenue is remarkably different in
its zoning and thus in its business types. Apart from the
block between Beverley and Avenue C which has a “C2-3”
commercial overlay on top of a residential base zone, it
falls entirely into a “C8-2” commercial zoning designa-
tion. This zoning designation, which is not a commercial
overlay, is a commercial base zone for automotive and
other heavy commercial services. For this reason, there
is a concentration of auto repair and other car-related
businesses on the corridor’s west side. This type of zon-
ing district is mainly found along major traffic arteries
throughout the city, where concentrations of automotive
uses have developed.
Residential zoning districts
The east side of the avenue is zoned for medium density
housing. On the west side, the predominant C8-2 zoning
designation -- the one that allows auto-related firms to
locate there -- does not allow housing to be developed.
The only part of the west side where housing can be built
is the block between Beverley and Avenue C, where an
“R5” zoning designation allows for housing to be built at
a lower density than what the residential zoning districts
allow for on the east.
EXISTING AND EMERGING CONDITIONS

Zoning

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Parade Ground Parade Ground

Data source: PLUTO 2010, NYC Department of City Planning

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

9
EXISTING AND EMERGING CONDITIONS
Land Use and Ownership
Many sections of corridor, especially from Church Avenue
to Cortelyou, are mixed-use in nature, with commercial
uses on the first floor and residential uses above. How-
ever, there are many exceptions to this pattern in several
spots throughout the study area: the northernmost sec-
tion of the avenue across from the Parade Ground where
a large apartment building and a private school and
church are; the auto-related businesses dispersed along
on the west side (none of which share building space with
apartments); three gas stations on the west side and two
on the east; and a concentration of three-story apartment
buildings on the east side near Coretlyou that do not have
storess on the first floor.
Place of worship next to a storage lot Photo: Justin Bland
Private ownership is the norm here. All of the land on
the corridor between Parkside and Cortelyou--except for
Prospect Park and the Parade Ground--is privately-owned.
These highly utilized public resources represent potential
assets for Coney Island Avenue as they could help draw
people to and from the corridor. Currently, however, the
physical and psychological connection between the street
and the park is weak for two major reasons: a) the lack
of programming in the Parade Ground’s Bowling Green
area1; and b) the unpleasant nature of taking Coney
1. From 2001 to 2009, the Bowling Green cottage was the home
of the Prospect Park Youth Center. It is currently vacant.
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
10
Island Avenue as a travel path to the park and Parade
Ground.
The study area’s different land uses (i.e., a major park,
car repair businesses, apartment buildings) give it an
inconsistent “streetwall” that is often disrupted by car
washes and gas stations; this creates a challenge for
developing a cohesive shopping area. The lack of city-
owned land means that private landowners will have to
be key players in any development that takes place on
this stretch of the corridor.
Demographics
Race and ethnicity
The neighborhoods surrounding Coney Island Avenue are
fairly diverse in race and income, even by New York City
standards. Racially, it somewhat mirrors New York City
but has a higher percentage of whites and a lower per-
centage of Latinos. The foreign-born population is 56%,
significantly higher than the 36% figure for the entire city.
Much of this can be attributed to the large Pakistani and
South Asian population that lives in the southwest section
of the study area. After stricter immigration regulations
caused many in the Pakistani community to leave Kens-
ington and Parkville after 9/11, there are anecdotal signs
that this community’s population has stabilized over the
last several years. The other major component of the
demographic study area’s foreign-born population is West
Indian, whose members tend to live in the area between
the Parade Ground and Church Avenue.
Income
There are a broad range of incomes within the study
area. For example, parts of Victorian Flatbush have
median household incomes over $65,000 while the area
sometimes referred to as Caton Park only has a median
household income a bit over $25,000 (according to the 2.
Comparably low income levels are found in the southwest
EXISTING AND EMERGING CONDITIONS

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Source: PLUTO 2010, NYC Department of City Planning

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

11
EXISTING AND EMERGING CONDITIONS
section of the demographic study area, where the South
Asian community is concentrated.
Emerging demographic trends
These figures are based on 2000 Census data, and it will
be important to update them when the geographically
fine-grained data from the 2010 Census is released. Re-
gardless, there are some post-2000 demographic trends
of note:
• The socio-economically stable Prospect Park South
neighborhood continues to be the most affluent part of
the study area. This has implications for the types of
businesses that could attract this population to the cor-
ridor in the future.
• Victorian Flatbush/Ditmas Park is continuing to experi-
ence an influx of younger and higher-income households,
which could also determine the type of retail that could
do well on Coney Island Avenue.
• The northern part of Kensington seems to be in the
midst of a transition to households of higher incomes,
many searching for a more affordable alternative to areas
like Windsor Terrace and Park Slope. Moreover, this area
also has several major stalled residential developments
which could bring additional higher income households to
the area in the future if they are completed.
• The Pakistani community seems to have stabilized fol-
lowing its post-9/11 losses, and its business community--
while feeling the effects of the current economic reces-
sion--has followed suit, opening up more stores on Coney
Island Avenue over the last several years.
The demographics of the neighborhoods that surround
the avenue represent a vibrant yet undertapped market
for its businesses. The higher-income areas of Victorian
Flatbush have spending power that the avenue’s busi-
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
nesses could better harness (there is more on this in the
next section). Also, households in Kensington tend not to
be as affluent, but there are a greater number of them to
create a constituency for the avenue’s businesses.
Traffic and Pedestrians
Vehicular Traffic
Coney Island Avenue is a major north-south automobile
thoroughfare with an average of two traffic lanes in each
direction. It is a designated truck route, and is served by
local and express busses. The road is very wide: 70 feet
wide from curb to curb. (In comparison, Church Avenue is
about 43 feet wide). The center lane alternates between
a single-direction, left-turn only lane; a bi-directional
left-turn lane (sometimes dubbed a “suicide lane”); and a
painted median.
There are serious impediments to the smooth flow of
traffic on Coney Island Avenue. The lack of dedicated left-
turn signals (i.e., traffic lights with green arrows) results in
major traffic back-ups at major intersections like Church
Avenue and Cortelyou. Double-parked cars at businesses
up and down the corridors -- a consistent condition -- also
contributes to clogged traffic.
In order to better understand the amount of traffic that
flows on the avenue, Pratt graduate students and profes-
sional transportation planner Georges Jacquemart con-
ducted a traffic count of the Church Avenue intersection
during peak hours. They counted “critical movements”
(the volume of traffic movements that conflict with eacho-
ther, such as left-turning vehicles in an intersection) and
found that Coney Island Avenue has significant excess ca-
pacity. This excess capacity points to an exciting opportu-
nity to introduce various traffic-calming measures without
significantly impacting traffic congestion on the avenue.
12
EXISTING AND EMERGING CONDITIONS

Pedestrians es that are open at night makes the corridor prohibitively

Pedestrian traffic, a mainstay of successful urban shop- dark for many local residents.
ping districts, is low to moderate at best. This can largely
be attributed to poor sidewalk conditions (described in
the next section) and the relatively weak retail offerings
that cater to pedestrians. Also, long blocks mean that
people have to walk far to actually reach a crosswalk.
Even once they reach one, many pedestrians report
feeling unsafe when they cross the avenue; allotted times
for crossing are very short, and crosswalks are poorly
marked and strangely located.

Cars being repaired on the sidewalk Photo: Liena Zagare SW corner of Coney Island Avenue and Church Avenue
Photo: Liena Zagare

Streetscape
The overall appearance of the avenue leaves much to
desired. Many of the auto service and parts businesses
which dominate the east side of the street contribute
to the poor streetscape conditions with vehicles that
obstruct the sidewalk, oil from car repair shops that spills
out onto the sidewalk, and consistent double-parking.
These are some of the most commonly cited reasons why
people do not enjoy walking along the corridor. Many
local stakeholders even reported that they make a point
of avoiding walking along the street. Other factors that
contribute to poor streetscape conditions include the fact
that there are almost no street trees sbetween Parkside
and Cortelyou. Also, waste baskets are an anomaly, exac-
erbating the problem of garbage-strewn sidewalks.
Finally, the lack of street lights and a dearth of business-

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

13
RETAIL ANALYSIS
It is important to understand what kind of businesses are
on Coney Island Avenue today and what types of busi-
nesses could be supported there in the future. This sec-
tion will begin to consider the existing mix of businesses
on the corridor, the geographic areas from which current
and potential customers can come, and the types of
goods and services that are experiencing retail “leakage”
from the avenue (i.e., for which people shop elsewhere).
Current Business Mix
Like many commercial corridors, Coney Island Avenue has
a mix of convenience and comparison goods. The former
category is largely composed of bodegas and small eater-
ies and includes other neighborhood-serving retail like
hardware and hair salons for which customers generally
do not travel far.
Businesses that sell “comparison” goods and services,
on the other hand, tend to draw customers from beyond
the immediate neighborhood. The avenue’s auto and
construction-related businesses comprise the bulk of this
category. Coney Island Avenue is also home to several
non-commercial establishments such as places of wor-
ship, medical offices, a private school, and an assisted
living facility for adults.
The mix of comparison and convenience businesses
aside, there is a hodgepodge nature to the collection of
business on the corridor which negatively impacts its
potential as a cohesive, multi-stop shopping strip. Other
than auto-related businesses that are clustered together
throughout spots on the study area’s west side, there
seems to be little pattern to where different business are
located along the corridor. Examples of such incongru-
ity include a large grocery store next to a roofing supply
company, a health clinic/methadone treatment center
adjacent to a motorcycle shop, and a Russian bath house-
with a restaurant supply store on one side and a moving/
storage business on the other. Future planning efforts
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
should explore this issue by considering what types of
new complementary businesses could encourage multi-
stop shopping or considering how the corridor could be
marketed as an eclectic mix of businesses.
An auto tire business on the wast side Photo: Justin Bland
Retail Trade Area
Based on the findings of this study, we have outlined
two approximate trade areas from which customers are
drawn to the corridor to shop for convenience goods and
services. In formal retail market studies, a primary trade
area is technically defined as the geographic area from
which 60% of shoppers originate. In order to estimate
the primary trade area for the northernmost section of
Coney Island Avenue, we mapped the residences of 85
people who were interviewed by graduate students in
Pratt’s planning studio course in the Fall of 2009. Since
these “man-on-the-street” (i.e., intercept) interviews were
conducted on Coney Island Avenue, they necessarily
captured people who already tend to shop on the avenue;
hence, the estimated “primary” trade area.
The “potential” trade area is larger in geography and is
based on the home residences (i.e., the nearest intersec-
tion) of the 350-odd people who supplied their address in
the online survey administered by the Pratt Center in the
Spring of 2010. While many of these survey respondents
do indeed shop on the avenue, many others indicated
14
RETAIL ANALYSIS

Estimated Retail Trade Areas

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L'S C
Parade Ground AV AU

PE
ST P

WY
AV N
TO

D
D S

B
OO

E 17 S
VP CA

BUCKIN
OV

US H
NW O
EE
ED

PS
GR

E 19
P PL

AV
RU G B Y

T
N
TO
CA

GHA M
Greenwood

ST
MC D O

WY
PK
Cemetery ON PL CT

RD
SNYDE
LT IT AV TENNIS

RD
MI RM CH
NALD

HA KE UR
FT CH

E 10 S
ALBEMA
Prospect Park SouthRD
AV

PL

STR A T
I EL LBEMA
RLE

T
FR A
D
LE R
E ALBEM
AR TILD

F O RD R
8S PL
PRE EB EXIT

ST NT
GE
T
A RE
NN
MI

D
D
ARLE R TURNER
PL DURYEA
AV ALBEM
12 C ON
T BEVE
AS
EY IS

H AM
TE LY RD CORTEL
ST BEVER
LA

E 21 S
RA
OCEAN

A
ND A

CL
ST
Ditmas Park

MARLB
IS A

T
V

U
ST

E 4 ST

LO EW S C
T
PKW Y

M AT T H
OR

E 3 ST

OCEAN
Kensington
Y

O R OUG
M PL
E 2 ST

SLOCU
ST

E 5 ST

35
E 8 ST
E 7 ST

E 1 7 ST

AV
ST

H RD

E 1 8 ST
V

AV C RD
A

OCEAN

36

E 1 6 ST
U
14

ST YO
37 L
ST R TE
CO
PKW Y

E 9 ST

E 1 9 ST
38
ST
ARGYLE

D
LYOU R
CORTE
DAHIL
V

WE S T M
A

AV
RD
L RD
15

39 AS
ST TM AV
DI
RK
INSTER

40 KI
W
ST NE
42 41 S AV
NEWKIRK

ST ST DITMA
RD

FARRA
Parkville
OCEAN

AV PLZ
V
A
16

44
PK W Y

ST 43
ST AV F
45 AV VE N CT
ST LE DE K O
IL
CORBIN

V O O D RD
RK GLENW
PA O D RD
V

O
GLENW
A

AV
17

ER RF CT
CT

46 ST WALDO
ST EB
W
SE

T
GTON C
T

WELLIN
ON

E 10 S T

47 AV AV
AV L E R AV H
E 9 ST

ST
PL

Primary trade area E IL TE

NC KV S
E 8 ST

E 1 6 ST

FO
E 15 S

R
RE PA
E 13 S

W
E 7 ST

49
E 12 S

4
ST
8
ST LA
Potential trade area
E 5 ST

T
T

50
T

ST
Online survey respondent home address (nearest cross-street)
E 1 4 ST

T H C
WALS
E 19 S

A
AV

E 18 S
E 16 S
E 15 S

E 17 S T
E 1 3 ST
E 12 S

51 Competitive retail areas

E 10 S
18

E 9 ST
E 8 ST

ST
A

E 7 ST

O D AV
T

ELMWO
19

52
AV I
T
T
T
E 5 ST
E 2 ST

ST
Subway Stations
T

Sources: Pratt Institute and Pratt Center stakeholder surveys, 2009 & 2010 0 0.05 0.1

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

15
RETAIL ANALYSIS

that they tend to shop in other competitive retail areas
and mainly use Coney Island Avenue to catch the B68
bus or to reach other destinations such as Prospect Park
or the subway station on Cortelyou Road. However, the
survey results show that if the avenue’s image improved
and there was more shopping variety, Coney Island
Avenue’s commercial offerings would appeal to a much
larger geography than it currently serves.
The demographics of the broader potential trade area
-- which include many of the neighborhoods directly to
the east of Coney Island Avenue -- hint at uncaptured
spending power. This correlates with a finding from an
earlier Pratt Center study of Church Avenue that many
households in Prospect Park South do not shop in their
immediate neighborhood. It is interesting to note that
the opinions from both surveys -- the intercept survey of
people walking along the avenue and the online survey
which included people who do not shop there much -- do
not vary considerably. The physical appearance of the
avenue was the priority issue for both groups, followed by
a desire for a broader range of retail.
Park Slope as a shopping destination with much more
frequency.
Retail leakage occurs when members of a community
spend money outside of it. Analyzing the amount of leak-
age from the Coney Island Avenue commercial corridor
provides an estimate of how much retail square footage
-- by retail category -- the area could support. The Pratt
Institute graduate planning studio class conducted a pre-
liminary leakage analysis which showed that there is un-
captured spending power from households living close to
Coney Island Avenue. It identified several retail categories
that are currently experiencing leakage from Coney Island
Avenue. The largest categories were: a) restaurants (par-
ticularly those with table service; b) convenience stores
and bodegas; c) pharmacies; and d) clothing stores.
Future planning studies about the avenue should do
further research into these retail categories, to better un-
derstand why local residents are shopping elsewhere for
these types of goods. This could help inform a future plan
to strenghten the commercial offerings found on Coney
Island Avenue.

Coney Island Avenue’s status as a major traffic corridor

serves as a connection for drivers travelling between
northern and southtern Brooklyn. Some of these drivers
are customers of the auto repair shops that are concen-
trated on the avenue’s west side. They can be thought of
as an expansion of the local trade area since they draw
people from beyond the local neighborhoods.

Retail Leakage
The results of both surveys show that many people
frequent other nearby shopping areas. Both groups cited
Cortelyou Road as a common alternative shopping area.
However, respondents from the intercept surveys were
more likely to also shop on Church and Flatbush Avenues
than were the online survey respondents who cited

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

16
RETAIL ANALYSIS

Business Types
E 7 ST

IR
ARKC

P
Y Y
KW KW Auto-related
A N P AN P
E E
OC OC Construction equipment and hardware stores
PS

E 1 7 ST
OV
ED

BUCKING
HomeAVfurnishings and antiques
E8

P
N
TO
ST

L CA
Eating or drinking establishment
P
ON

E 1 8 ST
T

H
CA Deli / bodega

AM R D
Grocery / food market
P L
MIT Financial and printing services
KER
L
IT P
RM Hair salon, pharmacy, spa, or laundromat
KE
Other
E 1 0 ST

Undetermined
E8

PL
ST

IEL
FR
A RL E RD
ALBEM
PROSPE

STRA TFO

LE RD
ALBEMAR
CT EXWY

RD RD

WESTMIN

A V
CH
UR PL
CH TURNER
S
TER RD

E 1 7 ST
Y PL
HINCKLE
OCEA N P

MA RLBO
RD
BEVERLY
KWY

ROUGH R

L
LEWIS P
D
RUGBY R
E 7 ST

W S CT
MA TTHE
E 8 ST

E 1 6 ST
D

PL
CONE

SLOCUM
ARGYLE
Y IS
OCEA N P

L AN D
E 9 ST

RD

AV C
E 5 ST

AV

RD
KWY

OU
E LY
RT
CO
OCEA N P

D
K

RR
WY

S TE
HE
O RC
D
OU RD
CORTELY

Source: Pratt Institute Studio Class, Field Observation, Fall 2009

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

17
WHAT WE HEARD
Using different outreach tools, we heard the voices of
current shoppers and other Coney Island Avenue “users,”
people who use the corridor minimally if at all, and a few
handfuls of business owners. While perspectives of what
the avenue has to offer diverge, there are also several
common threads of opinion. One of the most significant
ones is that whether one talks to current shoppers or
those who barely shop there at all, people would like to
see its physical conditions improved and its shopping
possibilities expand.
From Shoppers and Other Users
Members of this project’s advisory committee asked us
to gather opinions aasbout Coney Island Avenue from a
broader set of stakeholders, including those who were un-
able to attend evening meetings. Therefore, we designed
and implemented a short survey questionnaire to better
understand how people relate to the avenue. Thanks to
help from advisory committee members -- in particular,
Liena Zagare of the Ditmas Park Blog -- in disseminating
the online survey, 375 people filled it out. The following
are the main findings:
How people relate to the corridor
Coney Island Avenue is a highly visible corridor that is
a large presence for the neighborhoods that flank it.
Whether they actually shop there or not, people who live
close to the corridor tend to have some type of relation-
ship to it. Even those who often shop in competing retail
areas go to the corridor to get the bus and/or reach other
neighborhoods.
• Almost 75% of respondents go to Coney Island Avenue
at least twice a month.
• People tend to reach the avenue by foot: over half of
respondents walk to get there.
• Restaurants, food shopping, and auto-related busi-
nesses are the most common commercial destinations.
• Patronizing businesses is not the only reason why
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
people visit the corridor: one-quarter of respondents use
it to catch the B68 bus, and people commonly use to
reach other nearby neighborhoods.
• Nearby shopping areas compete with Coney Island
Avenue: Cortelyou Road and Park Slope are the most
popular alternative shopping areas. (In contrast, the man-
on-the-street interviews found that in addition to Corte-
lyou Road, Church Avenue and Flatbush Avenue were
common alternative shopping areas.)
Photo: Liena Zagare
Opinions about current retail offerings
While there is a significant degree of ignorance about the
types and quality of goods and services sold on Coney
Island Avenue, most people are of the opinion that the
variety of businesses is poor. To a lesser degree, respon-
dents complained about the poor quality of merchandise;
however, food and restaurants were rated higher than
non-food merchandise.
• Business diversity is lacking: a large proportion of
respondents (70%) think that the variety of businesses is
poor.
• The quality of goods is another complaint, though
less commonly cited than the lack of business diversity:
almost 50% of respondents think that the general quality
of merchandise is poor.
18
WHAT WE HEARD
• Many people are simply unaware of what stores are
selling on the avenue: over 25% of respondents had no
opinion about the general quality of merchandise.
• People rate food and restaurants higher than non-
food merchandise, but only about 33% of respondents
regarded their quality as good.
Opinions about streetscape conditions
Perspectives about the physical condition of the street
and sidewalk are fairly straightforward: there is wide-
spread agreement that much improvement is needed to
make the streetscape more pleasant.
• Pedestrians tend to not feel safe when they cross the
avenue.
• The sidewalks tend to be dirty and in disrepair.
• 90% of respondents reported that they do not enjoy
walking along the avenue.
Photo: Justin Bland
Aspirations for the future
This is where the interests of various stakeholders
converge. Both the interception survey and the online
survey found that increased business variety and physical
enhancement of the streetscape were the most urgently-
needed changes for Coney Island Avenue.
• More shopping options is the most popularly desired
change (the same was true for the man-on-the-street
survey respondents).
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
• Food stores, restaurants, clothing, a bank, and other
neighborhood-serving retail (e.g., book stores, hardware
stores, bakeries, ice cream shops) were common busi-
ness types that respondents would like to see on the
avenue.
• Improving the physical quality of the corridor (street
trees, pedestrian safety and comfort) was the second
most commonly desired change.
Notable quotes
The survey asked some open-ended questions where
respondents could express themselves freely, and these
are some of highlights that nicely evoke some very com-
mon sentiments about Coney Island Avenue.
“I think a combination of more efforts to make it
look less like a highway and more like a neighbor-
hood street would be useful--trees, bike racks and
more and better shopping options.”
“The biggest problem is that it is horrible to walk
along. In the summer there is NO shade, making
it very unpleasant to stroll along on the way to
the park or for shopping. Adding new businesses
is a great idea, but I still wouldn’t walk along CIA
because it is gross. No trees, lots of eyesores,
poorly cleaned/maintained spots that make it very
unpleasant.”
“It’s the only part of my regular day in New York
City that feels swamped by commercial blight and
suffers from an absence of community involve-
ment.”
From Business Owners
We had conversations with 15 merchants, which yielded
some feedback about the corridor as a place to do busi-
ness. While limited resources prevented us from talking
19
WHAT WE HEARD

to more business owners, the general consensus is that
Coney Island Avenue is a good place to do business:
many have been there for more than ten years, and none
of the people with whom we spoke have plans to relocate
or close.
A significant proportion of business owners and opera-
tors on Coney Island Avenue appear to be immigrant
entrepreneurs. This is particularly apparent in the small
food, eateries, and household goods stores that cater to
• None of the merchants indicated that they have
recently considered relocating their business off of the
avenue.
• While some of the merchants’ complaints echo those
of shoppers and users (e.g., poor streetscape conditions),
their negative sentiments tend not to be as strong as the
latter group.

Photo: Liena Zagare

Photo: Justin Bland

members of the South Asian community; many business

signs are in Urdu, a language spoken by many Pakistani
immigrants. Any future efforts to organize the avenue’s
merchants should take cultural and language differences
into account.
• Auto-related businesses tend to have larger geographic
customer bases than other business types.
• Some of the auto-related businesses complement
eachother; for example, customers from the Hollywood
Car Wash are known to patronize Mr. Customs next door.
• Despite a longtime presence on the avenue, many
businesses rent their space.
• Unlike many shoppers and other users, some business
owners feel that there is adequate enforcement of traffic
and parking regulations.

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

20
VISION STATEMENT
Coney Island Avenue is a place that generates distinct
opinions. For many merchants and business owners
(and people who frequent businesses there), this corridor
is a convenient and relatively affordable place for small
businesses. It works for them, at least to some mean-
ingful degree. However, in the eyes of many people who
live in the neighborhoods that flank the avenue, it is a
street that is failing miserably, both as a shopping area
and even simply as a street for walking or reaching other
nearby neighborhoods.
Photo: Justin Bland
By examining the avenue’s existing and emerging condi-
tions and listening to the voices of local stakeholders, it
is clear that the potential of this commercial corridor is
currently unmet. In order to move forward, a vision state-
ment for the future is helpful to begin organizing around
and inspiring a new path forward for the corridor:
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
The potential of Coney Island Avenue to better
serve and connect people and neighborhoods
should be unlocked, by fostering stewardship
through which stakeholders can work toward a
set of short-term improvements while laying the
foundation for future planning efforts.
The next section of the report will describe a set of short-
term and long-term recommendations for tapping into the
potential of Coney Island Avenue so that it can meet the
needs and aspirations of a broader set of stakeholders
than it currently does. The recommendations are based
on five main goals to pursue in order to realize this vision:
1) Encourage community-building efforts through an
advocacy group
2) Build the capacity to to plan for future development
3) Make the corridor more functional for all users,
including pedestrians, bus riders, and drivers
4) Improve streetscape conditions
5) Create a gateway to Coney Island Avenue
21
RECOMMENDATIONS

1) Engage in community-building efforts tion for creating a “Friends of CIA”-type group that could
through an advocacy group spearhead efforts to revitalize the corridor. Most of these
people are already civically engaged (e.g., via block as-
1a) Promote stewardship of the avenue through
sociations, Community Board 14, etc.), and they could
the creation of a “Friends of CIA” group
tap into their local networks to bring even more people on
Currently, there is not a single entity that acts as a stew-
board. Ideally, this new group should form an affiliation
ard for this section of Coney Island Avenue. There are no
with one or more existing small business advocacy orga-
tenant groups, merchant organizations, or BID’s on this
nizations such as the Church Avenue BID or the Flatbush
part of the corridor. It doesn’t even fall within the jurisdic-
Development Corporation.
tion of a single community board since the east side of
the avenue is part of Community District 14, and the west 1b) Organize a public launch for the new “Friends
side is part of Community District 12. While there are of CIA” group
clearly many individual private actors with a strong stake The group’s members should organize an public event to
in the avenue and its future (e.g., property and business introduce itself to the community at large and publicize
owners), ultimately their interests tend to be very narrow. its existence and mission. Local elected officials should
Even in the case of small business owners who want to be invited, and it should be used as an opportunity to
contribute to broader efforts to improve the corridor and recruit more stakeholders.
the business climate there, a serious lack of extra time
1c) Work towards short-term improvements
prevents them from actually doing so.
Once a core group comes together, they could begin
organizing around their aspirations for bringing change to
The lack of a group whose mission it is to revitalize, or
Coney Island Avenue. The group should prioritize actions
even oversee, the corridor is a
to take in the short-term to build community and strenght-
major obstacle to seeing any
en networks of people who want to work on improving the
real change there. The multi-
avenue. Here are examples of such actions:
layered nature of the chal-
lenges facing the avenue (e.g.,
• Advocating for the NYC Department of Transportation
rampant double-parking and
to make needed changes and improvements (please
sidewalk obstruction, intersections that are difficult to
refer to goal #3 for more about this.)
cross, lack of a retail mix) requires collective action to ef-
• Creating community murals to beautify neglected
fectively call on the appropriate city agencies to help local
spaces
stakeholders implement desired improvements. In order
• Activating underutilized spaces for the community to
to address the current conditions and lay the foundation
use and enjoy (please refer to Recommendation 4a
for attracting new businesses and development to Coney
for more about on this).
Island Avenue, a group of local stakeholders should come
together to collectively implement short and long-term
actions. 2) Build capacity to plan for future
development
The advisory committee with whom we consulted during
2a) Affiliate with an existing organization and/or
the process of preparing this report is an ideal founda- create a new organization

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

22
RECOMMENDATIONS
After the Friends of CIA group organizes some activities
and/or events for the short-term, a permanent non-profit
organization should be established to plan for the long-
term development (i.e., two to ten years) of the avenue.
Such an organization could decide to do things like a
formal retail market study and/or a marketing strategy to
develop a long-term plan for the corridor.
2b) Seek out funding
In order to be eligible for many available funding sources,
the Friends of CIA group should file the apporpriate paper-
work with the Internal Revenue Service to incorporate as
a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization.
Photo: Liena Zagare
2c) Conduct planning studies to explore the
potential for commercial development
Especially in light of new, geographically fine-grained data
from the 2010 Census, it will be important to follow up
this report with an updated analysis of local demograph-
ics. This would be an important component of a formal
land use/retail study that a new organization could un-
dertake to help identify which types of commercial -- and
non-commercial -- development would be most appropri-
ate and beneficial to surrounding communities. When
planning for the future of Coney Island Avenue, it will be
important for a new organization to actively engage pri-
vate landowners, neighborhood residents, and other local
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
stakeholders in a participatory planning process.
The findings and recommendations of a formal planning
study could lay the foundation for the organization’s
future programs. Depending on the nature of the recom-
mendations, they may lead to the implementation of a
retail marketing strategy. Activities related to such an
effort could include:
• Conducting merchant retention and improvement
• Encouraging local entrepreneurs to consider Coney
Island Avenue as a place to do business
• Creating communication channels among merchants
• Assisting retailers in diversifying their offerings
• Publicizing existing businesses
3) Make the corridor more functional for all
users, including pedestrians, bus riders,
and drivers
3a) Petition the NYC Department of Transpor-
tation to study the avenue and make needed
changes
The New York City Department of Transportation (NYC-
DOT) has flagged Coney Island Avenue as a candidate
for a 2011 traffic-calming study. Such a study could
ultimately point to various measures that DOT could take
to make Coney Island Avenue easier and safer to cross
(e.g., painting intersection lines onto the street, adjusting
the timing of traffic signals).
It will be important for local residents and other stake-
holders to establish community buy-in for pedestrian and
traffic improvements. Here are some ways to help make
the case to the NYCDOT that the community has strong
aspirations to make the corridor more friendly to pedes-
trians:
Document challenging conditions for pedestrians
Create a simple document (with visuals) that describes
23
RECOMMENDATIONS
which conditions make it difficult for pedestrians to safely
cross the avenue, intersection by intersection. In addi-
tion to submitting the document to the NYCDOT, it can
be publicized and used as an organizing tool to encour-
age more impacted people to advocate for pedestrian
improvements.
Photo: Justin Bland
Conduct a walk-through tour with NYCDOT staff-
ers
NYCDOT staffers are available and willing to take a tour
of pedestrian (and traffic) conditions on the avenue, and
local stakeholders should use this opportunity to show
the agency an on-the-ground perspective in advance of
its tentative traffic-calming study.
Lobby NYCDOT to complete a traffic-calming
study
Even though DOT has identified Coney Island Avenue as
the subject of a future traffic-calming study, local stake-
holders need to show that they support such a process.
The survey results show that there is widespread senti-
ment that vehicles on the avenue are too fast and unruly
and that this behavior makes the corridor highly unpleas-
ant.
3b) Improve illumination at night
The lack of streetlights makes for a very dark corridor
at night, which is part of the avenue’s lack of appeal for
pedestrians. Coupled with the large number of busi-
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
nesses that are closed during after-hours, the lack of light
detracts from pedestrian activity. Survey respondents
specifically called out the Cortelyou Road intersection and
the section between Church Avenue and Prospect Park as
being particularly dark and desolate at night.
Conduct a street light inventory
Create a simple document that shows where street lights
currently exist. (This could be integrated into the docu-
ment of pedestrian issues on the corridor.) By showing
their location in relation to areas that are currently well-lit
at night, the document could begin to prioritize areas that
need street lights.
Request that DOT conduct a street audit
Use the inventory of existing street lights as part of a
formal request to DOT to study the feasibility of installing
additional street lights.
3c) Improve conditions for people waiting for the
bus
As an important bus route, local passengers wait on
Coney Island Avenue for the B68 to connect them to Pros-
pect Park or for the X29 for express service to Manhattan.
DOT recently installed one of its new modern shelters at
northeast corner of Church and Coney Island Avenues,
but additional ones are needed.
Submit suggestions for new bus shelters to DOT
After documenting locations where a critical mass of bus
riders wait, submit a request to DOT to consider installing
bus shelters there.
3d) Make it easier for people on bikes to patron-
ize businesses
There are almost no bike racks on the avenue’s side-
walks. According to many survey respondents, the lack
of them is sorely felt. More bike racks could encourage
people to patronize businesses on the corridor that they
currently avoid in favor of other retail areas with adequate
bike parking.
24
RECOMMENDATIONS

Encourage property owners to install bike racks
The recent demand for bike racks across the city has
outpaced DOT’s ability to provide them, so in response,
the agency has allowed individual property owners to
purchase and install their own bike racks. Local stake-
holders who own property should request the appropriate
understanding of how such enterprises currently use their
space, design solutions may emerge that point to ways in
which they can use existing space more efficiently.
Request increased police enforcement
Local stakeholders should lobby their local police pre-

permits for installing a bike rack, and those who do not cincts to enforce existing double-parking and sidewalk

own property should encourage those who do to consider regulations.

this idea.

Submit a bulk request for bike racks to DOT 4) Improve streetscape conditions
Another way for local stakeholders to get more bike racks
4a) Improve cleanliness
on Coney Island Avenue is for local community groups to
Garbage strewn on the sidewalks is another commonly
submit bulk requests, which DOT prioritizes.
cited problem that detracts from the avenue’s image.

3e) Address the conditions created by dangerous Apart from calling 311 to report egregious violators to
and traffic-clogging vehicles the city, there are several actions that local residents and
One of the most commonly heard complaints about Co- business owners can take--both alone and in conjunction
ney Island Avenue is the headaches caused by vehicles, with the city--to address this complaint.
both those that are stationary (i.e., double-parked) and
moving along the avenue. Many auto-related businesses
use the sidewalk as space to park vehicles that are either
drying (in the case of car washes) or are being stored
before or after maintenance work is done on them. This
creates significant obstacles for people who are simply
trying to walk along the sidewalk.

Engage in “shuttle diplomacy”

Local stakeholders should create channels of commu-
nication between auto-related businesses who violate
sidewalk obstruction codes and those affected by their
operations. This could include outreach to auto business-
es to persuade them to curb their behavior or a postcard
campaign to demonstrate that community members
would like them to be better neighbors.
Explore design-oriented solutions
A community task force should be assembled to assess
the space needs of auto-related businesses that consis-
tently obstruct the sidewalk with vehicles. With a better
Photo: Justin Bland
Encourage property and business owners to
“adopt-a-basket”
Any person, group, store building manager, etc. can
participate in this program sponsored by the NYC Depart-
ment of Sanitation. One can apply for and receive a litter
basket (and plastic liners) by agreeing to monitor it for
usage and remove the liners regularly for pick-up.

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

25
RECOMMENDATIONS
Conduct public education about sanitation pick-
up schedules and procedures
Anecdotal evidence suggests that some people are
unaware of Department of Sanitation regulations that
dictate when and exactly where to put out household
and business refuge. A simple public education pam-
phlet to educate property owners and managers could
be disseminated to outline procedures and local pick-up
schedules.
Explore design solutions for unsightly garbage
containers
Around New York City, one can find examples of small
structures for garbage cans where recycling and garbage
can remain out of sight before trash pick-up day. Property
owners whose buildings produce a lot of garbage should
be encouraged to use these.
4b) Provide shade, cooling, and improve aesthetic
conditions by planting street trees
It is a very common sentiment among local stakeholders
that the avenue is seriously lacking in street trees. The
paltry amount of trees on the stretch of Coney Island
Avenue from Parkside to Cortelyou is sorely felt: when
forced to choose one thing they would like to see different
here, more than 20% of survey respondents said trees.
Moreover, there is a strong body of evidence that shows
that urban street trees provide numerous health, comfort,
and environmental benefits to surrounding residential
and business communities.
Request street trees from the city
Through the city’s One Million Trees program, any prop-
erty owner can request that the city plant a tree at a
particular address or several along a whole block. It is
important to note that not all requests can be filled im-
mediately, and there may be up to one year’s wait before
the city may actually plant new trees.
A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue
Encourage business and property owners to plant
street trees
In addition to asking the city to plant trees, property
owners can take matters into their own hands by planting
their own after submitting a free permit application to the
Parks Department. (If the sidewalk must be broken in or-
der to create a tree pit, a property owner must also apply
to the Department of Transportation for a permit.)
5) Create a gateway to Coney Island
Avenue
The northern part of the study area, located just south of
Prospect Park and the Parade Ground and intersecting
the Church Avenue retail corridor, represents an area that
if reimagined and ultimately redeveloped could greate a
“gateway” to Coney Island Avenue and better connect the
vibrant residential neighborhoods of Caton Park/Pros-
psect Park South/Ditmas Park, and Kensington/Parkville
to eachother. A number of underutilized sites in this area
present an opportunity for developing temporary and
permanent uses that would help draw more people from
surrounding neighborhoods to Coney Island Avenue.
5a) Organize community-oriented events for key
underutilized spaces
The southwest section of the Parade Ground near the
Bowling Green cottage and the parking lot at the south-
east corner of Church and Coney Island Avenues1 are two
underutilized spaces that could be activated by putting
on community-oriented events such as an outdoor film
screening or a flea market. With some short-term organiz-
ing by the Friends of CIA group, such events could take
place as soon as Summer 2011.
1 The parking lot, which is owned and used by the Preferred
Health Partners health clinic during office hours, is unutilized most
evenings and on the weekend.
26
RECOMMENDATIONS

5b) Study the needs of people who use the Parade

Ground
Interview and/or survey the various sets of Parade Ground
Key Vacant and Underutilized Sites
users to better understand the types of businesses that
they might patronize nearby if they existed. The season-
al nature of the Parade Ground should be considered
when assessing the viability of developing retail options
n d
geared toward this user group. G rou
PL r ade
CA
TO
N
Pa

N AV
TO
CA

ARGYL E
E8
PL
MIT

ST
KER

RD
E 10 ST
PL V
IEL HA
FR U RC
CH

Preferred Health Partners parking lot

LE RD
ALBEMAR

PL
TURNER

Stalled development
Preferred Health Partners parking lot Photo: Justin Bland Y PL
HINCKLE
Vacant site
(former auto repair business)
5c) Explore options for developing key
RD
vacant sites BEVERLY

STRATFO

WESTM IN
There are two large, privately-owned vacant sites on the
E 7 ST

LEWIS PL
RD RD

northern stretch of Coney Island Avenue that should be

STER
E 8 ST

S CT
developed. A future organization that is founded for the MATTHEW RD

purposes of acting as a steward of Coney Island Avenue PL

SLO CUM
CON E

(see Goal #5) should consider how to redevelop these

Y ISLA
E 9 ST

sites in ways that benefit the surrounding community. The AV C

ND AV

sites in question are:

OCEAN PK

1) Stalled development site at 527 Coney Island Avenue

WY

U RD
YO
EL
2) Vacant site across from 39 Turner Place that was CO
RT

a car repair business (which is being considered for a

new public school)

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

27
CONCLUSION & NEXT STEPS

Moving forward, Coney Island Avenue has the potential

to be less of a divider and more of a connector for the
people who live and work on the avenue as well as for the
communities that surround it. With increased attention
and concerted efforts by local stakeholders who envision
it as a more functional corridor, improvements can be re-
alized in the short-term. These could include issues that
are not necessarily tied to future development, such as
introducing traffic-calming measures and beautification
initiatives. In the longer-term, such efforts could expand
to include a community-based planning process to guide
development on the avenue.

In the near future, a core group of people who were part

of this study’s advisory committee should come together
and brainstorm about actions they could collectively take
in the next six months to a year. Immediate actions could
include planting trees on the avenue and reaching out to
the NYC Department of Transportation to express support
for a traffic-calming study. Simultaneously, this core group
of people should reach out to more local stakeholders
– with a particular emphasis on business owners – and
encourage them to participate in a fledgling “Friends of
CIA”-type group.

A New Road Forward: Unlocking the Potential of Coney Island Avenue

28