Happy Holidays from the Coney Island History Project

Happy Holidays and Warm Wishes for the New Year from the Coney Island History Project. We're thrilled to be celebrating our 16th anniversary and Deno's Wonder Wheel's centennial in 2020! 

As we look back on 2019, we're grateful to our members, funders, and friends for your continued enthusiasm and support, and proud of all that we've accomplished during the past 15 years. Special thanks to Carol Albert, who co-founded the Coney Island History Project with Jerome Albert in honor of Dewey Albert, creator of Astroland Park, for her ongoing support, and to the Vourderis family, operators of Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, for providing us a home and for their interest in preserving Coney Island's heritage.

Highlights of our 2019 season include the special exhibition "Salvation by the Sea: Coney Island's 19th Century Fresh Air Cure and Immigrant Aid Societies," which was featured in the Brooklyn Eagle and on WNYC's All Of It. Visitors from the NYC metro area, across the country and around the world took part in themed history weekends at our free exhibition center and snapped souvenir selfies with the iconic Spook-A-Rama Cyclops and Coney Island's only original Steeplechase horse.

When immigrants sailed into New York Harbor at the turn of the last century, the first thing they saw wasn't the Statue of Liberty, it was the towers and bright lights of Coney Island. Our 8th Annual Coney Island History Day presented with Deno's Wonder Wheel Park celebrated Coney Island's immigrant heritage with performances of Russian classical ballet and Ukrainian folk dance, Afro Haitian drumming, Chinese traditional dance, songs in the Turkish and Rumeli tradition, and a Mariachi band.  You can watch a video recap of Coney Island History Day here.

In 2019, we recorded over 50 oral histories in English, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish with people who have lived, worked or played in Coney Island and adjacent neighborhoods of Southern Brooklyn. More than 350 oral histories are available for listening in our online archive and at our exhibition center via our new SoundStik audio handset.

Our free Immigrant Heritage Walking Tour of Coney Island was conducted in English and Mandarin for Immigrant Heritage Week, organized by the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, and for Jane's Walk, organized by the Municipal Art Society. The Coney Island History Project exhibited at City of Water Day in Kaiser Park sponsored by the Coney Island Beautification Project and the Waterfront Alliance and did presentations about Coney Island Creek at Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies and the City Parks Foundation's Coastal Classroom.

Your donation or membership today will help support our 501(c)(3) nonprofit's free exhibition center, oral history archive, and community programming as we enter the new decade. We can't wait to see you again when the Coney Island History Project opens on April 5, 2020, for Coney Island's Opening Day! 

Charles Denson 
Executive Director 

Santa on the Boardwalk

You never know who you'll meet on the Boardwalk, "Coney Island's Fifth Avenue." On last weekend's Coney Island History Project Walking Tour, we were greeted by Santa and his girlfriend! With only 4 days til Christmas, may we suggest our walking tour tickets as stocking stuffers. We'll provide a cheerful gift card and tours are offered year round.

Coney Island Polar Bears in the 1990s. Photo © Tom McGann

Coney Island Polar Bears in the 1990s. Photo © Tom McGann.

New in the Coney Island History Project Oral History Archive: Listen to Coney Island Polar Bear president Dennis Thomas recount the history and lore of the 116-yr-old Coney Island Polar Bear Club, the oldest winter bathing club in the United States.  President of the club for the past 12 years, Thomas starting swimming with the Bears in the 1970s and became a member in the '80s. Join the Bears for 2020's Annual New Year's Day Polar Plunge! Info and registration: http://polarbearclub.org. Photo: Tom McGann, Coney Island Polar Bears in the 1990s, with Dennis Thomas on the far right.

August Wolfinger - Coney Island History Project

Art by August Wolfinger on the rounding boards of Coney Island's B&B Carousell. Photo © Coney Island History Project.

Today in history: Artist August Wolfinger, 'The Michelangelo of the Midway,' died on December 1,1950. His pastoral and patriotic scenes grace the rounding boards of Coney Island's historic B&B Carousell. From April through October, when the B&B is open, it's one of the stops on the Coney Island History Project Walking Tour. Although the amusement rides are now closed for the season, you can join our weekend tours year round.  After Labor Day through the fall and winter, tours start at 12:30 pm. A tour is confirmed when we have a minimum of 3 reservations. Advance purchase of tickets through our eventbrite page is required since tours are limited to 20 people.

Coney Island History Project Walking Tour at B&B Carousell

Coney Island History Project Walking Tour at B&B Carousell. Photo © Coney Island History Project.

 

posted Dec 1st, 2019 in History and tagged with B&B Carousell, August Wolfinger, history,...

Coney Island History Project Walking Tour

Coney Island's soon-to-be 100-year-old Deno's Wonder Wheel and other rides are closed till spring but you can enjoy the Coney Island History Project's weekend walking tours year-round. Ticket fees help support our 501c3 nonprofit's free exhibition center and oral history program. 

Tours are based on History Project director Charles Denson's award-winning book Coney Island: Lost and Found, the interviews from our Oral History Archive, and other primary sources. Visit our online reservation page on Eventbrite to see the walking tour schedule and purchase advance tickets online. Tickets for the 1-1/2 hour, wheelchair accessible tours are $25.

All Coney Island History Project walking tours are weather permitting. If a tour is cancelled due to the weather forecast, ticket orders will be refunded. If you have a question or you would like to schedule a private tour or group visit, please email events [AT] coneyislandhistory [DOT] org.

posted Nov 23rd, 2019 in News and tagged with Tours, tour, Walking Tour,...

Thunderbolt Roller Coaster Photo by Charles Denson

Today in Coney Island history, on November 17, 2000, the original Thunderbolt roller coaster, built in 1925 and in operation until 1982, was demolished by the City. Listen to the Coney Island History Project's oral history with Meg Feeley about a renegade ride on the Thunderbolt on a February night in the 1980s, a few years after the roller coaster had closed down.

In a pair of interviews recorded in 2016, cousins Linda Kramer Evans and Harold J. Kramer share childhood memories of visiting their great-aunt and great-uncle in Coney Island in the 1950's. Molly and George Moran owned and operated the Thunderbolt and lived in the house under the roller coaster, which was later immortalized in Woody Allen's 1977 film Annie Hall. The kids loved it when the house shook as the coaster coursed overhead, recalls Evans.

posted Nov 17th, 2019 in History and tagged with Thunderbolt, Roller Coaster, demolition,...

 

Allan Yussim celebrating his birthday aboard Dennis Vourderis's fishing boat, 2019.

We were sad to learn that our friend Allan Yussim passed away last week at the age of 77. Allan was a really funny guy and an important member of the Deno's Wonder Wheel family where, for thirty-eight years, he was on call to help keep things running. He was a man of many talents: master electrician, carpenter, and the all around fix-it guy for the Coney Island community. In 2011, when we expanded the Coney Island History Project exhibit center, Allan was in charge of the project and did an incredible job. He also rebuilt the History Project after Hurricane Sandy and was always happy to consult on any problem we had.

Deno's Wonder Wheel Park co-owner Dennis Vourderis remembers him as his fishing buddy, and the two spent many days on the ocean catching stripers and porgies. "I am happy that I had the opportunity to be his friend and share with him the happiest days in his final years." Dennis said. "He demanded the best or nothing. His interest was only for the good of the park and for the long term. City electrical inspectors respected him and his work. I will truly miss him."

Services for Allan will be at Coney Island Memorial Chapel, W 20th Street & Mermaid Ave in Coney Island (2009 Mermaid Ave) on Friday Nov 15 from 4pm-8pm.

Allan building the Coney Island History Project exhibit center in 2011.

Veterans Monument Coney Island History Project

Today, on Veterans Day, we honor and remember those who served. There are two important veterans monuments in Coney Island that few people know about. In Asser Levy Park (Seaside Park) at Surf Avenue and Ocean Parkway sits a stone monument with brass plaques made from the the USS Maine, the battleship that sank in Havana Harbor in 1898, contributing to the outbreak of the Spanish–American War. The plaque, with President Theodore Roosevelt’s image, commemorates an encampment of Spanish-American War veterans that took place at that site in Coney Island from July 6th to 9th, 1924. The plaque was erected that year by Edward Tilyou and the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce. Across the street from the monument, at the base of a flagpole next to the Boardwalk, is a plaque honoring William J. Hennessy of 3010 West 1st Street in Coney Island, who was killed in action on October 9th, 1918 during World War I. Hennessy Triangle is at Surf Avenue and Sea Breeze Avenue. These monuments are easily overlooked, but those who served and gave their lives a century ago should be honored on this day of remembrance. 

Veterans Monument Coney Island History Project

Veterans Monument Coney Island History Project

Veterans Monument Coney Island History Project

posted Nov 11th, 2019 in History and tagged with Veterans Day, Veterans Monuments, Coney Island,...

Coney Island History Project Oral History Archive

Share and preserve your memories by recording an oral history with the Coney Island History Project. We are recording audio interviews in English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and other languages with people who live or work - past or present - in Coney Island and adjacent Southern Brooklyn neighborhoods or have a special connection to the place. For inspiration, listen to some of the oral histories in our online archive. Interviews are recorded year-round in-person or via phone or Skype. You may schedule an appointment via our website.

posted Sep 4th, 2019 in Events and tagged with Oral History Archive, oral history, Oral Histories,...

Coney Island History Project

Coney Island historian Charles Denson joined WNYC's All Of It on August 20 to talk about the Coney Island History Project's latest exhibit, Salvation by the Sea. You may listen to the segment here. The show was guest-hosted by Nancy Giles. 

Photo credit: The Sea Breeze Hospital on Surf Avenue at West 29th Street, circa 1890s. (Coney Island History Project )