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HURRICANE SANDY
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
HURRICANE SANDY
Sand in
His Shoes
Nate Bliss ’05 has played a key role
in Coney Island’s comeback
B y Mary Jean Babic
On a cold, sunny morning in late March,
a group of elected officials, business
owners and civic leaders crowded a
small stage on the Coney Island boardwalk
to proclaim the amusement mecca
open for the 2013 season. Palm Sunday
opening day is a longstanding tradition
with longstanding rituals: the blessing
of the rides, the breaking of a bottle of
Brooklyn egg cream on the Cyclone roller coaster. This year, the
ceremonies held particular significance. Just five months earlier,
Hurricane Sandy had decimated the iconic beachfront community,
and at times it seemed doubtful the
rides would ever run again.
Up on the dais, seated next to U.S.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a young
man with short dark hair listened attentively
as one dignitary after another
stepped to the microphone. Though he
didn’t speak, Nate Bliss ’05 has been
an indispensable figure in Coney Island’s
recovery. In fact, when Dennis
Vourderis, co-owner of Deno’s Wonder
Wheel Amusement Park and the morning’s
emcee, introduced the people on
(Opposite) Nate
Bliss ’05 stands in
front of the Wonder
Wheel, one of Coney
Island’s iconic
amusement park
attractions, which
was damaged by
Hurricane Sandy but
reopened in March
after $1 million in
repairs.
PHOTO: NATALIE KEYSSAR
stage, he said of Bliss, simply, “Everyone knows Nate.”
This was true enough before Sandy and it’s even more so
now. Bliss has worked on Coney Island economic development
issues for eight years and is the city’s point man on ambitious
plans to revitalize “the people’s playground.” He wears several
hats: a v.p. of the New York City Economic Development Corp.;
president of the EDC-funded Coney Island Development Corp.,
which is charged with implementing strategic and rezoning
plans; and interim executive director of the Alliance for Coney
Island, a recently formed group of businesses and civic organizations
dedicated to the neighborhood’s improvement.
Busy as he was with development work, it went on the back
burner for a while after October 29. When the hurricane struck,
Bliss swung instantly into relief mode. He worked nearly non-