Questions About the Shut Down Coney Island Meeting -- Especially, 'Where Do You Get 500 Matching Yellow Hats Made Really Fast?'

A public hearing on Mayor Bloomberg’s Coney Island redevelopment plan was shut down Monday night, and questions abound:

1. Where did State Sen. Carl Kruger find 500 people to bus in on short notice, effectively shutting the meeting down? Brooklyn Eagle

2. Why were the 500 bused-in people all wearing matching yellow hats reading “Bloomberg’s Plan: How much? How long? Who pays?” Brooklyn Eagle

3. Is Bloomberg’s proposal similar to “many failed plans” to revitalize Coney Island considered over the last 50 years? Brooklyn Paper

4. How much will it cost to buy out developer Joe Sitt, whose Thor Equities has spent somewhere between $100 and $200 million to buy land in Coney’s amusement zone — land that the mayor now wants to buy, rezone as parkland, and have an outside theme park operator develop as an all-year attraction. Brooklyn Paper

5. If the meeting was canceled because of the unexpected appearance of 500 people all wearing matching hats -- then where did the pre-printed cancellation letters handed out by the CIDC come from?! Kinetic Carnival

6. The Plans: Everyone familiar with them raise your hand. (One difference: Thor's plan dedicates 4 acres to amusement park type stuff; the city's plan dedicates 15 acres.) Brooklyn Eagle

7. Where can we get 500 matching yellow hats made really fast? Cafepress

Photo by Duluoz Cats, Creative Commons license