Comprehensive community planning efforts in Coney Island have been sparse. A comprehensive zoning update for the peninsula was adopted in 1961.  During the mid-2000’s, the neighborhood underwent a rezoning process, which was finalized and approved by the City Planning Commission and City Council in 2009.  The plan, which covered 19 blocks and was bounded by the New York Aquarium to the east, West 24th Street to the west, Mermaid Avenue to the north and the Riegelmann Boardwalk to the south,  intended to “reestablish Coney Island as a year-round, open and accessible amusement destination” with “new housing opportunities, including affordable housing, and neighborhood services” (https://www.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/plans/coney-island/coney_island.pdf). 

For more information on the planning and development history of Coney Island, see the Historical Development section of our Existing Conditions analysis.

Ongoing Planning Efforts in Coney Island

To date, no comprehensive 197-a planning process has been completed for Coney Island.  In the absence of an up-to-date, comprehensive land use and development strategy, private developer-driven, ad hoc land use plans have proliferated. 

In early 2024, the Pratt Institute Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment (GCPE) was approached by leaders from the Coney Island Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation (CINRC) to explore the possibility of developing a collaboration to assist CINRC with a community-wide planning initiative. 

The organization was interested in engaging a wide range of neighborhood stakeholders to identify a planning and community development strategy and project “wish list” for Coney Island– which they could use to negotiate with developers seeking to build in the neighborhood. 

Beginning in the late Spring of 2024, Studio instructors and CINRC executive leadership engaged in a series of meetings to scope out this collaboration.

Scope of Work

Students enrolled in this studio will support the Coney Island Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation by: 

1. Developing and executing a series of planning and community outreach activities designed to help local stakeholders identify the visions, values, and priorities they wish to guide planning and development in the neighborhood.  

2. Translating this research into professional quality products that can be used by studio clients to advocate on the community’s behalf.

Toward these ends, studio activities will include (but may not be limited to): 

1. A multi-sector online survey

2. Interviews and/or focus groups with key stakeholders

3. Community visioning activities

4. Street team activities

5. Contextual research and analysis

6. A planning and development Community Wish List

7. Recommendations and Implementation Toolkits for a “Short List” of community priorities

This website reflects the culmination of the Pratt-CINRC Fall 2024 Studio collaboration.

Although this collaboration has formally concluded, the Coney Island People’s Planning process is ongoing. For more information, visit our Ways to Get Involved page.