Samira Tazari

Samira Tazari is a 2014 graduate of Syracuse University’s SI Newhouse School of Public Communication with a BS in Television-Radio-Film and Russian Language and a 2017 graduate of the Maine College of Art's Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. She recorded interviews for the Coney Island History Project from 2015-2018. For her first oral history, with singer Cornel Chan, Samira selected and added clips of his recordings to the edited interview. A lover of podcasts, she has worked as a podcast producer for Slate and Spotify and is currently a freelance producer. 

Interviews

Coney Island resident since the 1970s, community gardener and musician
Santos Torres has lived in Coney Island since 1973, tends the Santos White Community Garden, and plays music on the Boardwalk during the summer.  Located on Mermaid Avenue, the garden was founded in 1995 and is part of the City's GreenThumb network...
New York Bread co-owner talks about baking 30 different kinds of Russian bread in Coney Island
Viktor Vassiliev is the co-owner with Gennadiy Verebeychik of New York Bread on Neptune Avenue in Coney Island. Founded 17 years ago, the bakery produces and sells 30 different kinds of European and Russian-style bread and ships its products to 35...
A family tradition of raising and racing homing pigeons in Coney Island
For Anthony Martire, owner of Larry's Auto Radiator Shop on Neptune Avenue, the pigeon coops on his roof are a family tradition. His father, who was born and raised on 16th Street in Coney Island, began raising and racing homing pigeons in 1947. He...
Growing up in Coney Island and becoming invested in the community
Native New Yorker Bonnie Kong has lived in Coney Island since she was ten.  In 2000, her parents, who had emigrated from China, bought a single family home as first-time home buyers and moved their family of five from an apartment on the Lower East...
A young harmonica player born and raised in Coney Island
Born and raised in Coney Island, Connor Frontera, 23, began playing the harmonica six years ago. Currently in his last semester at Brooklyn College, he performs and teaches in New York City and at the national convention of the Society for the...
Longtime Coney Island resident and cinematographer for a series of indie films shot here
Martine Emile grew up in Coney Island after moving to Sea Rise apartments with her family in 1984. Her interest in photography was sparked at a young age with the gift of a camera from her father. Photography programs for teens in the community and ...
Sea Gate resident and co-founder of CIBBOWS - Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers
Patricia Sener is an open water swimmer and environmental activist who lives in Sea Gate at the western end of  Coney Island. As co-founder and executive director of CIBBOWS - Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers - she swims nine months...
Ukrainian emigre writer and author of Stealing Cherries, a collection of flash fiction
Marina Rubin, the author of Stealing Cherries (2013), reads excerpts from her book of flash fiction, and talks about storytelling, poetry and the Russian Jewish immigrant experience. Born in the small town of Vinnitsa, Ukraine, she immigrated to the...
New Year's Day greetings and Coney Island memories recorded at Deno's Wonder Wheel
On January 1st, 2016, the Vourderis family opened Deno's Wonder Wheel on New Year's Day for the first time in the landmark's 95 year history. The Coney Island History Project was on hand to record New Year's greetings from the Wonder Wheel for our...
A Coney Island Polar Bear talks about the health benefits and natural high of winter swimming
"Trust me, try it one day, you're going to like it," says Abiodun "Abi" Bello, who has been swimming in cold water as a member of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club since 2010.  A native of Lagos, Nigeria, he first came to the U.S to study accounting...