Coney Island Blog - Events

The Coney Island History Project will open the 2023 season of our exhibition center on Memorial Day Weekend with an exhibit about the one hundred-year-old Riegelmann Boardwalk curated by Charles Denson. 

One hundred years ago, on May 15, 1923, the Coney Island Boardwalk officially opened! It was named for Brooklyn Borough President Edward Riegelmann who said: "Poor people will no longer have to stand with their faces pressed against wire fences looking at the ocean."

The Riegelmann Boardwalk: Past, Present, and Future is a fascinating exhibit that tells the story of how the Coney Island Boardwalk came into being, how it was constructed, and how it changed Coney Island forever by opening the shoreline to the public. Historic photographs and maps will illustrate the innovative construction techniques that were used for the first time to create Coney Island’s new  “Main Street” in 1923. A century of memorable photographs will be on display!

“As the Boardwalk celebrates its hundredth birthday its future is hard to predict," says Charles Denson, director of the Coney Island History Project and author of Coney Island: Lost and Found. "Will it remain a boardwalk, or will it become the world’s longest, widest sidewalk?" The exhibit describes the challenges facing this century-old New York City landmark as the City debates whether the deteriorating Boardwalk should be resurfaced with concrete, plastic, or wood.

The Riegelmann Boardwalk: Past, Present, and Future will be on view from May 27 through September 4, on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, from 1:00 PM- 7:00 PM. Admission is free of charge. The Coney Island History Project exhibition center is located at 3059 West 12th Street at the entrance to Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, just a few steps off the Boardwalk. For additional information, e-mail events@coneyislandhistory.org. 

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Join us on Sunday, April 23rd, to learn about the contributions of immigrants to the history and development of Coney Island on our Immigrant Heritage Walking Tour. The Coney Island History Project is offering this special walking tour free of charge as part of Immigrant Heritage Week 2023.

Among the stops on the tour and the stories of struggle, success and achievement are Nathan's Famous, founded in 1916 by Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker; Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, where the landmark 1920 Wonder Wheel was purchased by Greek immigrant Denos D. Vourderis as a wedding ring for his wife Lula; and the B&B Carousell, created in 1919 by German and Russian immigrants and now Coney's last hand-carved wooden carousel. The tour will also highlight businesses operated by immigrants who have recorded their stories for the Coney Island History Project's Oral History Archive.

Coordinated by the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Immigrant Heritage Week (IHW) is an annual citywide program of events celebrating the history, traditions and contributions of New York City's diverse immigrant communities. IHW 2023 is scheduled for April 17-23 in recognition of April 17, 1907, the date when more immigrants entered the U.S. through Ellis Island than any other date in history.

The April 23rd tour starts at 1:00 PM. Advance registration is required. Please reserve free tickets in advance on our Eventbrite page. Ticket reservations are limited to 2 per person as capacity is limited. Meet at the Coney Island History Project, 3059 West 12th St (at 12th Street entrance to Wonder Wheel), Brooklyn NY 11224.

The tour takes 1 hour and 30 minutes. Walking tours are held rain or shine. We reserve the right to cancel tours in the event of potentially dangerous weather.

This program is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and New York City Councilman Ari Kagan.

The place to be on New Year’s Day is Coney Island and the best way to welcome 2023 is with a splash in the Atlantic. Join the Coney Island Polar Club for their 120th Annual New Year’s Day Plunge on January 1st from 11 AM until 2 PM. The party starts on the Boardwalk at 10 AM.

Polar Bear Club president Dennis Thomas talks about the New Year's Day Plunge over the decades in an oral history he recorded for the Coney Island History Project in 2019: "It's been going on as long as anybody knows and it used to be just kind of an informal gathering of the Polar Bear Club itself. Then more people from the public," says Dennis, who began swimming with the Bears in the 1970s. "When I first started, if there were a hundred people there, we'd say, wow, this was huge. It's a bucket list thing. People want to do it once in their life and New Year's Day is a great day to do that."

There is no fee to participate but all funds raised help support local non-profits offering environmental, educational, and cultural programming including the New York Aquarium, the Coney Island History Project, Coney Island USA, Coney Island YMCA, and more.

Visit polarbearclub.org to register in advance for the New Year's Day Plunge or make a donation.

Photo Credit: Jim McDonnell
 

You're invited to join the Coney Island History Project in November for two special events. We're excited to be wrapping up Season Two of Coney Island Stories with a conversation and a performance about “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, the theme of this year’s podcast. The dates for these two Zoom webinars are November 10 and November 17, successive Thursdays, from 7-8pm.

The online event on November 10 will be a conversation about growing up in Coney Island with some of the narrators whose oral histories are featured in the podcast series. November 17 will be a reading and performance of their own work by narrators who are writers, poets, musicians, and actors. In addition, some narrators will read passages from historical memoirs about growing up in Coney Island.

The online events are hosted by Charles Denson and Tricia Vita, who co-produce the podcast with independent audio producer Ali Lemer. Charles Denson is executive director of the Coney Island History Project and the author of Coney Island: Lost and Found, named 2002 New York Book of the Year by the New York Society Library. He grew up in Coney Island and began documenting his neighborhood as a boy, a passion that continues to this day. Tricia Vita has a certificate in reminiscence and life story work and creates reminiscence events and records oral histories for the Coney Island History Project.

Tickets for the November 10 and 17 events are free of charge. Advance registration is required. You will be sent the Zoom link two days before the event.

👉 Register for Thursday, November 10 at 7:00PM - 8:00PM 

👉 Register for Thursday, November 17 at 7:00PM - 8:00PM

This program is sponsored in part by an Action Grant from Humanities New York with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.