The Coney Island History Project is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibit "Barbara Rosenberg: Coney Island Street Photography, 1964-2010" on view from May 28 through September 5, 2022.

Barbara Rosenberg (1938-2016) was born and raised in New York City, where she lived her entire life. She was the consummate New Yorker, a social worker who dedicated her life to street photography here, and around the world. Barbara began taking photos as a kid and always had a camera with her. "I was drawn to photography after seeing the photographic images of the French photographers Doisneau, Brassaï, and Cartier-Bresson," she said, "New York City became my canvas, the streets and Coney Island especially, supplied me with an unending source of images." 

She used her camera to express her passion for culture, history, and the human condition. A 2011 article in American Photo Magazine described her approach as "unobtrusive, aesthetically artful, and quietly humorous." Working out of a darkroom in her apartment, she developed negatives, made prints, cut mats and made frames, ultimately spending more than a decade selling her work from a stall on Columbus Avenue. "I would sell to people who just fell in love with my work," she said of her years running a booth.

Barbara documented Coney Island for fifty years and when she died in 2016 she left her photographic work to the Coney Island History Project. We remember her with a selection of her work covering Steeplechase Park, the Polar Bear Club, and Boardwalk attractions from the 1970s. "I am always an observer," she said, "the small gesture, the quiet mostly unobserved moments became my subject matter." 

"Barbara Rosenberg: Coney Island Street Photography, 1964-2010" will be on view from May 28 through September 5, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, from 1:00PM- 7:00PM. 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.

"Growing Up in the 1950s," the new episode of Coney Island Stories, is being released today. Listen and subscribe via your fave podcast app or the podcast page on our website.

Season Two’s theme is “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. In Episode Three, Coney Islanders who grew up in the ‘50s share their stories of living in apartments and over stores on Mermaid Avenue and its side streets. More than a thousand families were able to move into the two brand-new city-owned projects, Gravesend Houses and Coney Island Houses. Others made do with seasonal bungalows and rooming houses as year-round homes. World-famous Steeplechase Park was their neighborhood playground and television was a popular new indoor pastime.

The oral histories in Episode Three are with Susan Petersen Avitzour, Barbara Unterman Jones, Sheldon Krimsky, David Louie, Johanna Gargiulo Sherman, and Ronald Stewart. The interviews were conducted by Charles Denson, Leila Goldstein, Samira Tazari, and Tricia Vita between 2007 and 2021. This episode was produced by Charles Denson, Ali Lemer and Tricia Vita. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. 

Season Two of the podcast series is sponsored in part by an Action Grant from Humanities New York with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

You're invited to visit the Coney Island History Project's exhibition center on Coney's traditional opening day, Palm Sunday, April 10, and on Easter Sunday, April 17. We'll be open special hours--1:00PM-6:00PM. Admission is free of charge. View historic artifacts, photographs, maps, ephemera and films of Coney Island's colorful past as well as banners previewing our special exhibitions for the 2022 season.

Barbara Rosenberg’s Coney Island Photos (May 28 – September 5, 2022)
Street photographer Barbara Rosenberg documented Coney Island for 50 years. When Barbara died in 2016 she left her photographic work to the Coney Island History Project. We remember her with a selection of her work covering Steeplechase Park, the Polar Bear Club, and Boardwalk attractions from the 1970s. "I am always an observer,” she said, "the small gesture, the quiet mostly unobserved moments became my subject matter."

Remembering Astroland: 60th Anniversary (Mid-July – September 5, 2022)
Space-age-themed Astroland Park opened in the summer of 1962 on the site of Feltman’s Restaurant. After the closure of Steeplechase in 1964, Astroland became an anchor that helped keep Coney vibrant until its closure nearly half a century later. We celebrate this anniversary with a selection of historic images from our archive.

Our exhibition center season begins Saturday, May 28. We’ll be open 1:00PM-7:00PM, weekends and holidays, from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day. This year marks the 18th anniversary of the Coney Island History Project and our 12th season at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park. Since our inception in 2004 with a portable booth on the Boardwalk for recording oral history interviews, we have proudly offered "Free Admission for One and All!" at our exhibits and special events. Our history banners will also be on display starting April 10 at Deno’s Wonder Wheel in the plaza below the Phoenix Roller Coaster.

On Palm Sunday, the Coney Island History Project will have an information booth on the Boardwalk in front of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. Deno’s opening day festivities start at 10:00AM on the Boardwalk with the 37th Annual Blessing of the Rides ceremony with Pastor Toyin Facus of Coney Island's Salt and Sea Mission. Pastor Debbe Santiago originated the event with Denos and Lula Vourderis, who invited children from the Mission to enjoy free rides, a tradition that continues today. After the Blessing, the first 102 guests at the park will receive a free ride on the 102-year-old Deno's Wonder Wheel.

Stutman family photo on the beach at Bay 5, father, mother, younger sister, and Rena, 1954. Photo Courtesy of Rena Stutman Rice.

Among the recent additions to the Coney Island History Project's oral history archive are interviews with Rena Stutman Rice, who grew up in Brighton Beach, and Esther Delgado and her daughter Maria Schwab, who are lifelong residents of Gravesend.

Rena Stutman Rice shares stories of growing up in Brighton Beach, where she lived on Brightwater Court and later on Ocean Parkway. A clip from her father's home movie of her as a baby appears in the documentary The Boys of 2nd Street Park. Among her memories of the 1950s and '60s are playing in the park and going to Brighton's Bay 3 and Bay 5 beaches. She also recalls her mother's stories from the 1930s and stores and delis patronized by her family such as Mrs. Stahl's Knishes and Zei-Mar Delicatessen.

Maria Schwab (left) and Esther Delgado (right). Photos courtesy of Maria Schwab.

Both Esther Delgado and her daughter Maria Schwab grew up in Gravesend in Delgado’s mother’s home where they still live today. Delgado (née Scarlino), 88, recalls the bungalow her maternal grandparents first rented in 1929 for $33 a month because they thought it was close enough to walk to Coney Island beach. Schwab shares stories of growing up in Gravesend in the 1960s when the neighborhood was predominantly Italian and the tradition of having dinner with the extended family kept the streets deserted and the stores closed on Sunday afternoons.

More than 400 oral histories are available for listening in the Coney Island History Project’s online archive. Please listen, share, and if you or someone you know would like to record a story via phone or Zoom, sign up here. We record oral histories in English, Chinese, Russian, Spanish and other languages with people who have lived or worked in Coney Island and nearby neighborhoods or have a special connection to these places.