[click to view film on PBS until 4/1/17]

I saw the documentary: ZIPPER: CONEY ISLAND’S LAST WILD RIDE (here’s the trailer) over the weekend on the land use battle in Coney Island. I like the filmmakers’ focus on the guys that ran the “Zipper” (the ride is guaranteed to make me throw up) to humanize the development battle between NYC, Coney Island residents and the developer. Plus you can’t go wrong with a good Blue Oyster Cult song in the opening.

After watching the documentary (you can purchase or rent it here), you can’t help but see how difficult it is to develop property in NYC striking a balance between community needs with economic feasibility as well as navigate political power and government.

This difficulty is a key reason why residential housing costs are so high in most urban markets.

Still, a new ride in Coney Island was just opened – The Thunderbolt Roller Coaster.