Began his career as a sign painter in Coney Island
John Rea is currently an advertising professional and adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York, but he began his career as a young teenager working for his father, also John Rea, in the Peluso Machine and Iron Works shop in Coney...
Content type: Oral History Item
Longtime resident of Coney Island and former President of the Polar Bear Club
Scarcella grew up in Coney Island during the 1950s and 1960s. His father was a beat cop, and he later became a cop and detective in the homicide unit. He moonlighted as a barker for Spookarama and El Dorado and was the President of the Coney Island...
Content type: Oral History Item
Actor, author, and modern-day vaudevillian
Trav S.D., aka Travis Stewart, is an actor, author, cartoonist, comedian, critic, director, humorist, journalist, master of ceremonies, performance artist, playwright, producer, publicist, public speaker, songwriter, and variety booker. Deeply...
Content type: Oral History Item
Coney Island visitor since the 1980's
Olga Guevara visits Coney Island these days with her two children (pictured with her above), but remembers visiting the beach in the 1980's with her girlfriend when they were single. She also remembers coming to Coney Island in the 1990's...
Content type: Oral History Item
Brooklyn College sociology professor
Jerry Krase, professor emeritus at Brooklyn College in sociology, explains how he had a brief brush with the law on the Coney Island Boardwalk in the 1960s.
Content type: Oral History Item
Grew up on Avenue Z in the 1930's and 40's
Jocelyn Cantor remembers walking to the Boardwalk from her home on Avenue Z and spending whole days at Steeplechase Park with her cousin when they were children. When she got older, Jocelyn and a girlfriend recruited some soldiers on leave to...
Content type: Oral History Item
Long-time manager of Astroland's Kiddieland
Walter "Shorty" Arsenault worked his whole career in the amusement business, starting in Coney Island at the Nellie Bly Amusement Park and then working for many years in Astroland. He managed the section of the park with children's...
Content type: Oral History Item
Biographer of the Mighty Atom
Ed, screenwriter and creator of the 1970's television series "Kung Fu" starring David Carradine, is also the author of "The Mighty Atom: The Life and Times of Joseph L. Greenstein" (The Viking Press, 1979). Ed's family...
Content type: Oral History Item
Visiting Coney Island his whole life
Allen Ashby started coming to Coney Island as a boy in the late 1950's. In the 60's, he came with high school friends and spent most of his time trying to meet girls. Later, he brought his daughters for visits as they grew up in the 70...
Content type: Oral History Item
Planner behind the new Stillwell Avenue subway terminal
Tom is the Deputy Chief of Capital Planning at New York City Transit and was involved in the planning, design and engineering of the new Stillwell Avenue terminal, the largest subway terminal in the world. He explains the concept and what some of...
Content type: Oral History Item