First ride on The Cyclone
Kyle Yapching has long awaited being tall enough to ride The Cyclone. He visits his aunt and uncle every summer and finally in 2010 he was able to go on the historic roller coaster. Check out the video his Uncle Steve took of their ride by clicking...
Content type: Oral History Item
Resident of Coney Island in the 1940's
Lorraine Reitman Gorelick grew up in Coney Island in the 1940's. In this interview she recalls drumming up business for her family's rental locker business, as well as her first ride on the Cyclone... at age 3!
Content type: Oral History Item
Queen of Coney Island
Janet Panetta's family had a locker at the Steeplechase Park Bathhouse in the 1950's. She and her sister were set loose to play in the pool and around the park. One summer, Janet contracted polio and remembers being called the Queen of...
Content type: Oral History Item
Lived on Mermaid Ave. between 35th and 36th Streets between 1945 and 1965
Robert Shapiro lived on Mermaid Avenue until his marriage in 1965. He and his wife both grew up in Coney Island and remember neighborhood restaurants, stores and social clubs. Local celebrities like Neil Diamond, Woody Guthrie and Louis Gossett, Jr...
Content type: Oral History Item
Recollections of summers spent at the Ocean Tide beach club near Sea Gate
Moire Cuite and Elizabeth O'Boyle, two sisters, fondly recount their summers spent at the Ocean Tide bathing club as teenagers in the early 1960's.
Content type: Oral History Item
Bringing the 1960's back to Coney Island
Ron recalls going with both friends and family to Coney Island back in the 1960's. His family always took the same spot on the beach in front of the Wonder Wheel. He remembers amusement rides from that time in great detail, but waited until his...
Content type: Oral History Item
Longtime Director of the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce
Long the executive secretary of the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce, 100-year-old Matt Kennedy was one of Coney Island's biggest champions. Matt was of Irish, Italian and Russian descent. His grandfather was a Coney Island lighthouse keeper...
Content type: Oral History Item
Excerpt from "Weekend America" radio program, 23 June 2007, profiling Coney Island and its uncertain future.
Content type: Oral History Item
Remembers visiting Coney Island as a girl
Shirley Helems (ne DeCarlo) remembers visiting the beach and Steeplechase Park as a girl. Her mother would bring Shirley and her sister by bus and even brought the girls' grandparents' from Italy when they visited.
Content type: Oral History Item
Locker Boy at Oriole Baths who hung out at Washington Baths with his friends
Marty Reich spent his teenage years as a locker boy at Oriole Baths on 16th Street and the beach, handing out towels and soap. He went to Oriole Baths with his family, but hung out at Washington Baths with his friends. His uncle, a champion...
Content type: Oral History Item