Coney Island Blog - News

Book Coney Island's Wonder Wheel Park

We're thrilled to announce the upcoming publication of Charles Denson's book Coney Island's Wonder Wheel Park on August 3 (postponed from May 18).  This year the landmark Wonder Wheel celebrates its 100th birthday, and to mark the occasion the Coney Island History Project director and author of Coney Island: Lost and Found has written a new book to coincide with this historic event. While researching the fascinating history of the Wonder Wheel he was surprised to discover so much that was lost to history about the Wheel and its origins. "It was a joy to write," Denson said, "the Vourderis family, owners of Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, truly represent the essence of Coney Island and are incredible to work with."

Coney Island's Wonder Wheel Park is all primary source research, gleaned from numerous interviews with surviving members of all of the families involved in the design, construction, and operation of this venerable ride, from original concept in 1914, construction in 1920, and salvation by the Vourderis family who purchased and restored the ride in 1983. 

The theme of the book is immigrant initiative. Charles Hermann, the Wonder Wheel's designer was Romanian; original owner Herman Garms was German; and Denos Vourderis, who bought the ride in 1983, was Greek. The construction crew was made up of Italian, Irish, and Russian immigrants, who were given stock in the Wheel and made part owners. The book tells the story of a former eel fisherman and cheese maker teaming up with a machinist/building superintendent to finance and build a fantastic ride based on Leonardo da Vinci's 15th century sketch of a perpetual motion machine. The Wonder Wheel is now Coney Island's oldest continuously operating ride; a survivor of urban renewal, hurricanes, and fires; and an official New York City landmark. It has a perfect safety record.

Published by Arcadia's Images of America series, Coney Island's Wonder Wheel Park contains hundreds of never-before-seen photographs, plans, and ephemera, including rare images from the Vourderis family archive and the Coney Island History Project archive, and interviews with the family of the original designer and builder of the Wonder Wheel. The Coney Island History Project exhibition center had scheduled an accompanying Wonder Wheel exhibit curated by Charles Denson to open Memorial Day Weekend.  The exhibition center remains closed due to state executive order and our opening date has yet to be determined.

This blog post was updated on May 19, 2020 with information about the rescheduled book publication and postponement of the exhibition.

posted Mar 24th, 2020 in Events and tagged with Book, Wonder Wheel, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park,...

Coney Island History Project Oral History Archive

Due to the COVID-19 emergency, the Coney Island History Project has postponed walking tours, group visits to our exhibition center, events at schools and senior centers, and in-person oral history interviews from March 14, 2020 until further notice. 

In order to maintain social distancing while continuing to engage with our community, our staff is recording oral histories from home via Skype and phone. Our audio interviews are conducted in English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and other languages with people who live or work - past or present - in Coney Island and adjacent Southern Brooklyn neighborhoods or have a special connection to the place. Sign up for an appointment or listen to some of the more than 350 interviews in our online archive here

"In the past, phone interviews were done primarily with people who live outside of the New York metro area," said Charles Denson, executive director of the Coney Island History Project. Over our nonprofit organization's 16 year history, in-person oral history interviews have been conducted at our exhibition center and recording studio in Coney Island or at the interviewee's home or office in New York. "We started doing interviews via Skype in October and have recorded the stories of people who grew up in Coney Island and Bensonhurst and now live all over the world. We're pleased to be able to offer residents of the five boroughs and metro area the opportunity to share their stories with us via Skype chat or phone call."

Now more than ever we encourage you to browse the Coney Island History Project's website, which in addition to our Oral History Archive includes new additions to our Collection, and Coney News and Hall of Fame. Follow us on Facebook, TwitterInstagram and YouTube to learn about Coney Island's legendary and colorful past and the Coney Island community of today. 

We look forward to welcoming visitors to the Coney Island History Project exhibition center again soon. In the meantime, please stay safe and take care.

posted Mar 14th, 2020 in News and tagged with Coney Island, Coney Island History Project, oral history,...

Coney Island History Project

The calligraphy reads from left to right- "Kang Ni Dao" - Chinese for Coney Island. Photo of Lu Zhao and Sylvia Ching Man Wong for the Coney Island History Project.

Happy Lunar New Year 2020! Listen online to stories recorded in Cantonese and Mandarin for the Coney Island History Project's Oral History Archive with Coney Island, Gravesend and Bensonhurst residents who arrived here as immigrants or refugees. The interviews are transcribed in Chinese, translated into English, and available for online listening and reading on our website.

Calligraphy artist Lu Zhao was born in 1942 in Toishan in China’s Guangdong Province. He immigrated to New York in 1989 and lives with his family in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Mr. Zhao says that his path to mastering calligraphy began as a five-year-old and he started painting portraits when he was eight. His first teacher was Jinyu Zhao, a member of his extended family who taught him to write on scrolls, choose copybooks, and the relationship between paper, brush and ink. Mr. Zhao's service to the community includes volunteering to create the funeral scrolls for Police Officer Wenjian Liu in 2015.

Thanks to Council Member Mark Treyger, New York City Council and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs for supporting our multilingual programs.

posted Jan 22nd, 2020 in News and tagged with Lunar New Year, Happy Lunar New Year, oral history,...

Happy Holidays from the Coney Island History Project

Happy Holidays and Warm Wishes for the New Year from the Coney Island History Project. We're thrilled to be celebrating our 16th anniversary and Deno's Wonder Wheel's centennial in 2020! 

As we look back on 2019, we're grateful to our members, funders, and friends for your continued enthusiasm and support, and proud of all that we've accomplished during the past 15 years. Special thanks to Carol Albert, who co-founded the Coney Island History Project with Jerome Albert in honor of Dewey Albert, creator of Astroland Park, for her ongoing support, and to the Vourderis family, operators of Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, for providing us a home and for their interest in preserving Coney Island's heritage.

Highlights of our 2019 season include the special exhibition "Salvation by the Sea: Coney Island's 19th Century Fresh Air Cure and Immigrant Aid Societies," which was featured in the Brooklyn Eagle and on WNYC's All Of It. Visitors from the NYC metro area, across the country and around the world took part in themed history weekends at our free exhibition center and snapped souvenir selfies with the iconic Spook-A-Rama Cyclops and Coney Island's only original Steeplechase horse.

When immigrants sailed into New York Harbor at the turn of the last century, the first thing they saw wasn't the Statue of Liberty, it was the towers and bright lights of Coney Island. Our 8th Annual Coney Island History Day presented with Deno's Wonder Wheel Park celebrated Coney Island's immigrant heritage with performances of Russian classical ballet and Ukrainian folk dance, Afro Haitian drumming, Chinese traditional dance, songs in the Turkish and Rumeli tradition, and a Mariachi band.  You can watch a video recap of Coney Island History Day here.

In 2019, we recorded over 50 oral histories in English, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish with people who have lived, worked or played in Coney Island and adjacent neighborhoods of Southern Brooklyn. More than 350 oral histories are available for listening in our online archive and at our exhibition center via our new SoundStik audio handset.

Our free Immigrant Heritage Walking Tour of Coney Island was conducted in English and Mandarin for Immigrant Heritage Week, organized by the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, and for Jane's Walk, organized by the Municipal Art Society. The Coney Island History Project exhibited at City of Water Day in Kaiser Park sponsored by the Coney Island Beautification Project and the Waterfront Alliance and did presentations about Coney Island Creek at Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies and the City Parks Foundation's Coastal Classroom.

Your donation or membership today will help support our 501(c)(3) nonprofit's free exhibition center, oral history archive, and community programming as we enter the new decade. We can't wait to see you again when the Coney Island History Project opens on April 5, 2020, for Coney Island's Opening Day! 

Charles Denson 
Executive Director 

Santa on the Boardwalk

You never know who you'll meet on the Boardwalk, "Coney Island's Fifth Avenue." On last weekend's Coney Island History Project Walking Tour, we were greeted by Santa and his girlfriend! With only 4 days til Christmas, may we suggest our walking tour tickets as stocking stuffers. We'll provide a cheerful gift card and tours are offered year round.

Coney Island Polar Bears in the 1990s. Photo © Tom McGann

Coney Island Polar Bears in the 1990s. Photo © Tom McGann.

New in the Coney Island History Project Oral History Archive: Listen to Coney Island Polar Bear president Dennis Thomas recount the history and lore of the 116-yr-old Coney Island Polar Bear Club, the oldest winter bathing club in the United States.  President of the club for the past 12 years, Thomas starting swimming with the Bears in the 1970s and became a member in the '80s. Join the Bears for 2020's Annual New Year's Day Polar Plunge! Info and registration: http://polarbearclub.org. Photo: Tom McGann, Coney Island Polar Bears in the 1990s, with Dennis Thomas on the far right.

Coney Island History Project Walking Tour

Coney Island's soon-to-be 100-year-old Deno's Wonder Wheel and other rides are closed till spring but you can enjoy the Coney Island History Project's weekend walking tours year-round. Ticket fees help support our 501c3 nonprofit's free exhibition center and oral history program. 

Tours are based on History Project director Charles Denson's award-winning book Coney Island: Lost and Found, the interviews from our Oral History Archive, and other primary sources. Visit our online reservation page on Eventbrite to see the walking tour schedule and purchase advance tickets online. Tickets for the 1-1/2 hour, wheelchair accessible tours are $25.

All Coney Island History Project walking tours are weather permitting. If a tour is cancelled due to the weather forecast, ticket orders will be refunded. If you have a question or you would like to schedule a private tour or group visit, please email events [AT] coneyislandhistory [DOT] org.

posted Nov 23rd, 2019 in News and tagged with Tours, tour, Walking Tour,...

Coney Island History Project Oral History Archive

Share and preserve your memories by recording an oral history with the Coney Island History Project. We are recording audio interviews in English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and other languages with people who live or work - past or present - in Coney Island and adjacent Southern Brooklyn neighborhoods or have a special connection to the place. For inspiration, listen to some of the oral histories in our online archive. Interviews are recorded year-round in-person or via phone or Skype. You may schedule an appointment via our website.

posted Sep 4th, 2019 in Events and tagged with Oral History Archive, oral history, Oral Histories,...

Coney Island History Project

Coney Island historian Charles Denson joined WNYC's All Of It on August 20 to talk about the Coney Island History Project's latest exhibit, Salvation by the Sea. You may listen to the segment here. The show was guest-hosted by Nancy Giles. 

Photo credit: The Sea Breeze Hospital on Surf Avenue at West 29th Street, circa 1890s. (Coney Island History Project )

 

Loop the Loop Edwin Prescott

Happy Roller Coaster Day from the USA to the UK! National Roller Coaster Day commemorates Edwin Prescott's August 16, 1898 patent for a vertical Loop the Loop. The looping coaster was built in 1901 on Surf Avenue in Coney Island where the 1927 Cyclone roller coaster is now. Early this morning in the UK, Tricia Vita of the Coney Island History Project talked roller coasters and Coney Island with Paul Ross' Late Late Early Early Show on talkRADIO in London. Give a listen: