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Indeed, there are only two major differences in Bloomberg’s and Thor’s plans for the amusement district. First, Bloomberg wouldn’t permit hotel construction in the heart of the district or along the Boardwalk. And second, the city wants to rezone the amusement district as public parkland.
To do so, Bloomberg will still need to buy out Sitt — who paid more than $100 million for his land — and some smaller-time landowners, rezone the land, and then hand-pick a new developer.
Horace Bullard, a developer who owns land in the amusement district and who once harbored similarly grand visions for the area, said he didn’t think the administration would run into much opposition from local property owners.
“No one in his right mind will be fighting the city on this issue if he’s justly compensated for it,” said Bullard, one of the landowners who would, indeed, need to be compensated.
But not everyone shares Bullard’s rosy optimism.
Dennis Vourderis, whose family has operated the Wonder Wheel for 87 years and owned the Wheel, its popular kiddie park and the land under it for 24 years, doesn’t particularly want to cede his land.
“We hope that the city doesn’t force us to lose our land at an unfair price and against our wishes,” said Vourderis, frustrated that the city prefers an integrated theme park to a hodgepodge of honky-tonk, family-owned businesses.