his park for that amount. The New York City Board of Estimate began considering buying the Dreamland site in mid-June 1911, and it voted to acquire the Dreamland site via condemnation at the end of July 1911. The board approved a revised proposal that October in which it agreed to pay $1 million for a site. The revised proposal excluded the northernmost of Dreamland's site, on Surf Avenue, thereby splitting the park's site into two section. Brooklyn borough president Alfred E. Steers immediately advocated for selling the site and developing a boardwalk along the ocean. Legal disputes quickly arose over who held the Dreamland site's property title. The Morey and Lott families claimed in late 1911 that nearly all of Coney Island fell under a quitclaim deed granted by Nicholas Johnson, who had greed to sell the land even though he had no right to the property. Barnet Morey's heirs sued Dreamland in February 1912, and the city formed a condemnation commission the same month to determine how much compensation the former owners should receive. The city took title to the Dreamland site in March 1912. Although the condemnation commissioners began taking testimony that October, the proceedings were delayed because of the lawsuit. A New York Supreme Court justice dismissed the Morey and Lott families' lawsuit in May 1913, and the Dreamland Company received $1,000 in damages. The condemnation commission announced in late 1914 that it would pay $2.189 million to property owners, which included the Dreamland Company, the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad (PP&CI), and the Balmer family. The award was revised downward to just over $2.1 million in June 1915, but the city appealed the award, and the condemnation proceedings were delayed for years. The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, ruled in early 1916 that Dreamland Company's and PP&CI's awards were too high. The city selected a second group of commissioners, which decided in February 1919 to reduce the total award to $1.4 million. The commissioners notified the state government of the revised award in October 1919; by then, the cost of the condemnation itself had grown to $800,000. The State Supreme Court was asked to confirm the revised award in June 1920, eight years after the condemnation proceedings had begun. Subsequent site usage Northern section By July 1911, independent concessionaires had rebuilt their booths on the northern portion of the site, facing Surf Avenue; the