Pat Lingenbach

Pat Lingenbach recalls her weekend visits to Coney Island as a child and teenager growing up in Riverdale, New York in the 1930's and 40's.  Pat's mother was friends with Evelyn Mangels and according to Pat, Evelyn played matchmaker for her son Albert who eventually married Pat's older sister, Louise. The Mangels Family were amusement inventors and operators responsible for The Whip and other popular amusements in Coney Island and around the country. Pat admits harboring a crush on Albert before her sister's marriage, and Albert's younger brother having a crush on her!

Pat describes the amusements, the company she kept, and the favorite foods she ate in those happy weekends in Coney Island. She hopes the area will remain an attraction for leisure instead of being developed into a residential area with towers of condominiums.  She says she is glad to have experienced so much of what Coney Island had to offer during her youth.