We received an email from Thor Equities spokesperson Tom Corsillo this afternoon. Developer Joe Sitt has announced that he is shelving plans to build housing in Coney Island and will go ahead with his redevelopment plan as a mix of amusements and retail. Here is the text of the email:

After listening to the comments, questions and concerns of members of the Coney Island community, as well as people all over the country and throughout the world, Thor Equities has completely eliminated the residential component of its proposed plan. Thor will instead focus on amusement and entertainment uses worthy of Coney Island’s spectacular legacy.

Thor now has a plan that is compatible with the City’s strategic plan and looks forward to working with the community and the City to return Coney Island to its former glory.

-Tom Corsillo
Spokesman, Thor Equities

Kinetic Carnival has also reported the news:

This is super exciting news for Coney Island. Now we are all anxious to see what new preliminary plans and designs Thor Equities will release.

It’s been said by many that there are ways to make profit on amusements. And that residential components in Coney Island is not a solution to Coney’s seasonality issues. Coney was never about building amusement retail for the residents down the street. Coney (like a CIUSA poster pointed out) has always been about going to Coney Island. There have been many wonderful ideas talked about on the Coney Island USA bulletin board.

Us, we’re too stunned at the moment to react and await details of the revised plans. More in the morning.

UPDATE: Tomorrow’s New York Times reports that the plan contains three hotels with about 400 time share units in buildings ranging from 25-32 stories tall.