Oral History Archive

Filtering by 2000 - 2009 back to all
Jeanette Bigelson
At age 103, Coney Island resident shares her memories and secrets to a long and happy life
Jeff Brooks
Tales of unusual dark rides, riots, the Tornado, and the Bowery
Keith Suber
Community activist and reformed gang member
Zohra Saed
Poet and writer from Afghanistan who grew up in Southern Brooklyn
Khonya Epstein
Author and leader of the Holocaust Survivors Group at Marks JCH of Bensonhurst
Emmanuel Elpenord
An actor's memories of growing up in Sea Rise apartments and a souvenir of the Wonder Wheel
Frank Gurrera
Machinist at MTA's Coney Island Overhaul and Repair Shop and oldest active TWU Local 100 member
Anthony Wang
Resident of senior housing in Coney Island was born in Shanghai and survived the Cultural Revolution
Josephine Gargiulo Cassata
Daughter of Gargiulo's founder was born in an apartment above Coney Island's famous restaurant
Gabriel Valencia
Twenty-five years at Gregory & Paul's and Paul's Daughter on the Coney Island Boardwalk
Lorraine Ross
Resident of Coney Island for 47 years and retired transit cleaner at Stillwell Terminal
April Leong
Founder and principal of Coney Island's Liberation Diploma Plus High School
Ronald Stewart
Community activist and resident of Coney Island for more than 50 years
Lu Zhao
Calligrapher recounts his artistic journey from China's Guangdong Province to Brooklyn's Bensonhurst
Lolita Divilova
Community Board 13 member and Brightwater Towers homeowner and board member
Tim Law
Bilingual educator and founder of Chinese American Social Services Center in Bensonhurst
John Hunt
Model builder of roller coasters and amusement rides including the Cyclone and Deno's Wonder Wheel
Juanhua Zhao
Tai chi teacher at Coney Island's Seaside Innovative Senior Center shares her life story