Just what Coney Island needed, some Miami Beach flavor! After forcing out eight longstanding local establishments on the Boardwalk, international amusement giant Zamperla has enlisted the services of one Michele Merlo, a food and beverage guy who comes to us from Miami's Pelican Hotel. Goodbye Ruby's, hello Club Lexx! Bros, Coney Island is gonna be so ballin' next summer.
Merlo tells NY1 he plans to make the Coney Island boardwalk a year-round destination, with a variety of eateries, the first of which, Coney's Cones, will open this summer. Coney's Cones which will have outside seating and open at 9 a.m., and Merlo says that once the battle station restaurant complex is fully operational, "Maybe one day, you can come and read your book outside on this nice boardwalk, sit in nice comfortable chairs and have a nice cappuccino or ice coffee."
The last remaining Coney Island businesses that fought eviction will close forever at the end of October, after agreeing to a settlement for an undisclosed sum. "November 1, we have a lot of work to do," says Merlo, revealing that plans call for four sit-down restaurants to be open year round, including a large food court with international cuisine and another establishment "resembling" a diner, with an Italian theme.
Over on the Coney Island message board, reactions are mixed. One observer declares, "What's important is that the boardwalk is finally going to have places where you don't have to worry about eating something that might get you sick." But another writes, "So Zamperla is finally going to remove any trace of the old Coney Island from the boardwalk and make it their own. Destroying businesses that have stuck with the community through good and bad times...is that how they plan to finally conquer Coney Island? I don't like it. It's not right." Obviously, this person has never experienced the magic of a cappuccino on the beach in February.
