The world’s most important newspaper has paid virtually no attention to the Coney Island story, but today it runs an editorial that misses a lot of points–like why the city doesn’t have an interim plan for keeping Coney going–but makes one very good one: “The city’s version displays Mayor Bloomberg’s commendable effort to keep Coney Island from being overwhelmed by oceanfront condominiums. On the 60-acre spread proposed by the city, there are thousands of possible housing units, but most are at a distance from the entertainment areas. The hotels are a different story. This zoning proposal would allow a row of four hotels [buit by developer Joe Sitt] between the Stillwell Avenue subway stop and the outdoor entertainment area. The hotels could too easily become a wall, blocking public access to the sideshows and the rides, the boardwalk and the ocean. The hotels also squeeze the outdoor rides into a narrow strip of about 12 acres — an area that is simply too small to attract enough rides and attractions to bring back the big crowds.” Bravo.–NYT