English

Australian circus historian whose family performed at Coney Island's Luna Park in the early 1900s
Mark St Leon is an Australian circus historian whose family performed in Coney Island at Thompson and Dundy's Luna Park in the early 1900s.  The St Leon troupe of bareback riders, acrobats and tightwire artists who came to the U.S. was led by his...
Content type: Oral History Item
Growing up in Gravesend and going to Coney Island in the 1960s and living there today
Maria Schwab (née Delgado) grew up in Gravesend in her grandmother's house, where she lives with her family today. She shares stories of growing up in Gravesend in the 1960s, when the neighborhood was predominantly Italian and the streets were quiet...
Content type: Oral History Item
Growing up in Gravesend and going to Coney Island in the 1940s and living there today
Esther Delgado (née Scarlino), 88, recalls living in a bungalow on West Eighth Street in Gravesend when she was a child in the 1940s.  In 1929 her maternal grandparents first rented the bungalow for $33 a month because they thought they could walk...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of growing up in Brighton Beach in the 1950s and '60s
Rena Stutman Rice shares stories of growing up in Brighton Beach in the 1950s and 60s. Born in 1946, 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...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of living in Luna Park Houses in the 1960s and '70s
Arlene Oken Straus shares memories of living in Luna Park Houses as a teen in the 1960s and as a young wife and mother in the 1970s. Her family moved to the Mitchell Lama co-op from the Bronx and was among the original tenants in 1962. The complex...
Content type: Oral History Item
Family memories of Nat Faber's Fascination arcade and amusement business empire
Sam Person shares family memories of Nat Faber's Fascination arcade and amusement business empire. Person worked in Coney Island as a manager at his father-in-law's Faber’s Fascination in 1953 and 1954 when he was in college studying to be a CPA. ...
Content type: Oral History Item
Stand-up comedian and founder of the Coney Island Comedy Festival
Irina Ginzburg, who goes by her stage name Upa, has been doing stand-up comedy for 12 years and founded the Coney Island Comedy Festival in 2019.  The festival is held at Ruby's Bar and the Coney Island Brewery. "People find their way into stand-up...
Content type: Oral History Item
Children's book author's memories of Steeplechase, the Animal Nursery, and Brighton Beach Baths
Laura Numeroff is an author and illustrator of best-selling children's books who grew up in Brooklyn in the 1950s and 60s. She shares memories of being taken to Steeplechase Park by her father, who worked for the World Telegram and got press passes...
Content type: Oral History Item
Film director and screenwriter who grew up in Coney Island in the 1990s
"Coney Island made me who I am," says film director and screenwriter Stefon Bristol, who grew up in the 1990s on West 27th Street. His family moved from East Flatbush to Coney after buying one of the new townhouses built by Astella Development. He...
Content type: Oral History Item
Author and historian of carousel horses and carvers and co-founder of the National Carousel Association
An interview with Dr. Roland Summit, author, historian, expert on carousels and carousel horse carvers, and founding member of the National Carousel Association. Beginning in 1959, Roland and his wife Jo collected, restored, and preserved hundreds...
Content type: Oral History Item