Oral History Archive

Kai Fung
Homeowner in Coney Island's West End for almost 30 years and first member of his family to settle here
Bill Zeidenberg
Memories of growing up on Brighton First Court and a summer job renting beach chairs in Coney Island
Lou Nasti
Mechanical display creator who redid the tricks for Astroland's Dante's Inferno dark ride in the 1990s
Hawley Hussey
Sea Gate artist, writer, educator and year-round swimmer
Steeplechase Pier Fishermen
Harry Delgado, "Stretch," and Larye Mcsheppard share fishing stories
Edith Storch
Memories of growing up on West 36th Street in Coney Island's West End in the 1930s
Billy Blitzer
Longtime baseball scout for the Chicago Cubs and Sea Gate resident
Stephen Gaffney
Artist and educator who restored the old signs and painted new ones for Paul's Daughter
Boris Ioselev
Librarian and exhibit curator at Coney Island Library emigrated from St. Petersburg nearly 30 years ago
Sam Moses
Sign-painting legend, musician and Sea Gate resident
Gloria Nicholson
Memories of growing up in a Jones Walk rooming house in 1940s Coney Island
Van Milana
Grandson of sword swallower Joseph "Ajax" Milana and DeWise Purdin "The Handless Sharpshooter"
Hyeyoung Kim and Michael Cooper
Composer and lyricist of Luna Park, a musical, on chronicling the partnership of Thompson and Dundy
Don Ferris
Carpenter, mechanic, and showman who started his career operating roller coasters and road attractions
Karen Dawn Blondel
Environmental justice organizer who was born in Coney Island and raised here in the 1960s and '70s
Deena Metzger
Writer, poet and healer who grew up in a Yiddish literary family in Sea Gate during World War II
Jay Green (Gerald Greenberg)
Three-time International Jugglers Association champion and resident of Southern Brooklyn
Marian Carbone and Anna Jackson
Memories of riding the Parachute Jump and Steeplechase horse race ride in the 1950s