Within the PR industry, the Public Affairs sector is one of the most fascinating and controversial at the same time. The “dark art” of lobbying, as it is often defined by the critic, is the practice of influencing politicians in order to gain favorable government’s policies. I particularly enjoy the definition by Mark Kober-Smith for its simplicity and frankness: “lobbying is a simple process – it is asking people to do what you want. Since they often say ‘no’, the trick is to turn that no into a ‘yes’” (Legal lobbying – How to make your voice heard).
Working in the Public Affairs industry, requires a wide knowledge of the institutional landscape, as well as a pretty good number of acquaintances in the ‘right’ government offices. For these reasons, many of the lobbying PROs come from a political background, i.e. MP or local councillor’s assistants, political party’s members, volunteers at election’s campaigns, etc.
Most of the lobbying practices are local; usually, ‘negotiations’ are concentrated in the capitals where the national institutions are located and where the policies are decided. On the other hand, there are many Public Affairs firms working on an international level for example in Brussels at the European Parliament or in the proximity of U.N. headquarters around the world.
Recently, UK lobbyists are facing a ‘challenge’ as the CIPR is trying to promote transparency by forcing each firm to declare their clients (PR Week article). Today, however I would like to talk about the lobbying practice in the US, in particular, I would like to describe an example of ‘lobbying game’ in the Real Estate sector within the New York City area.
The case is about the famous Coney Island amusement park and its tormented rezoning plan. As many of you may know, Coney Islandhas been the summer attraction for New Yorkers since the early 20th century. In its hey-days – 30’s & 40’s – Coney Island was the home of three main amusement parks: Luna Park, Dreamland, and Steeplechase Park. Unfortunately, after the Second World War Coney Island gradually lost its appeal and many of its original amusements. Nowadays, the peninsula is one of the poorest in the New York City Area.
Despite its decadent status, Coney Island is still the destination for New Yorkers who enjoy eating at Nathan’s Famous, the first popular hot-dog chain, or gazing at the panoramic view from Deno’s Wonder Wheel, or going for an extreme ride on the Cyclone, one of the oldest wooden roller coasters still in operation. Now, let’s have a look at what happened to Coney Island in the past few years..
The issue..
- In 2003, New York City was bidding for the 2012 Olympic games and one of Mayor Bloomberg’s projects was to revitalize Coney Island with a multi-million plan. Foreseeing a new rezoning of the entire area, the developer Thor Equities started to buy portions of Coney Island.
- In 2005 he came out to the public by showing his $2billion ‘Vegas By The Sea’ project to redevelop Coney Island with outdoor and indoor attractions. Joe Sitt, CEO of Thor Equities, presented the plan in public meetings within the Coney Island’s communities. Some of the locations were churches. At the meetings, Joe Sitt pictured himself as a native Brooklyner who wanted to bring Coney Island back to its glory. At first, both the community and the City seamed pleased by Thor Equities multi-million plan.
"The Incredibly Bold, Audaciously Cheesy, Jaw-Droppingly Vegasified, Billion-Dollar Glam-Rock Makeover of Coney Island" from NewYork Magazine
- Then problems started in 2006 when Thor Equities’ architecture firm released on the website the final project revised with high-rise condos on the seaside and a small area for the park attractions. Immediately, watchful Brooklyners bloggers posted the new plan’s map and started to write negative comments on the new proposal. Joe Sitt defended himself by saying that the project wouldn’t be viable without the condos. The community started to perceive Joe Sitt as a speculator, a threat to their historical environment.
- A few months later, Thor Equities announced the purchase of Astroland and started exerting pressure on the City forthe new rezoning by threatening to close the park, the next year. On the other side, the community started to pressure the City Hall with the activist group Save Coney Island and the Municipal Art Society in order to intervene against Thor Equities.
- In 2007, the City Hall’s administration led by Mike Bloomberg stopped its dialogue with Joe Sitt, who was defined by a NY public officer as “a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing”. Mayor Bloomberg started to play the role of the saviour of Coney Island and engaged in a ‘fight’ with Joe Sitt. It must be remembered that in the same year there were the administrative elections for the Mayor, and Bloomberg found in this fight an easy support from New York City communities. At the same time, Bloomberg proposed a new plan for the amusement park opposing the one from Thor.
- In 2008, Astroland was forced to close and NYC started to negotiate for the purchase of Thor properties inside the amusement park area but its offers were too low.
- In the summer of 2009, the City Planning and the City Council approved the rezoning needed to revitalize Coney Island with the Bloomberg plan. The negotiations to purchase the land owned by Joe Sitt, started to intensify. Finally, in November NYC bought 7 acres out of 12 from Thor Equities and started to work on the new project.
- A few days ago, NYC officially announced the engagement of Zamperla USA, the largest manufacturer of amusement rides in the world, which will rebuild the new outdoor amusement park that will be called “Luna Park”.
My point of view..
I was first introduced to this issue when I was interning in the Governmental and Community Affairs New York-based PR firm Geto & de Milly, in 2007. At that time the firm, was working for Carol Albert – owner of Astroland, and Dennis Vourderis – owner of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. Both clients asked for help after Thor Equities started to raise their rents in order to pressurize the City Hall for a favorable rezoning of the area.
A strategy adopted by Geto & de Milly to sensitize the local communities of Coney Island on the danger of Thor Equities’ plan was to identify all the spiritual leaders of the area and talk with them clearly about the situation. I searched online the contacts of all the spiritual leaders within Coney Island and handed them to the senior executive. The strategy was to increase awareness of the community in order to build consensus against Thor Equities. Eventually, the community led by the activist group Save Coney Island and supported by the Municipal Art Society started to organize and demonstrate outside the councils of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
From my personal experience and from the articles found online, lobbying is the strategy to influence the actions of the institutions of government. To be successful, a company, corporation, or organization must have good connections with politicians in order to increase awareness on certain issues. At the same time, the message must be clear and well structured in all its parts to penetrate at different levels: government’s institution, the media, and the stakeholders.
Monitoring the media, and the Internet in general, is essential to be ready to react quickly against any inconveniences. To show transparency, it is fundamental for building a good reputation with the stakeholders who play an active role in the final success of the lobbying practice.
Time is another variable to take well in consideration. Often, lobbying is a long-term practice. Many changes occur during the lobbying period, for example in the Coney Island Development’s case the 2008 financial crisis and the diffusion of new media altered the dynamics of the political, economic, and cultural arena.
I would like to end this extensive post with a reflection matured at the end of my presentation in the Corporate Communications class, and after having talked with James O’Keefe, founder of TETRA-STRATEGY.
When the course leader Pam Williams asked me what would I do if I were interning on the side of Thor Equities, I answered as a joke that I would have made only coffees. The fact is that everybody has the right to hire a PR firm.
For example Thor Equities, the ‘bad’ in the Coney Island dispute, was represented at first by The Marino Organization, and later by Knickerbocker SKD – with my surprise, a firm who worked for many campaigns and congressmen of the Democratic Party.
Personally, I believe that the ethics of a client reflects also the ethics of an agency, not the other way round. Save Coney Island!
The Thrift Shop of Ideas 