Oral History Archive

Jeanette Bigelson
At age 103, Coney Island resident shares her memories and secrets to a long and happy life
Jeff Brooks
Tales of unusual dark rides, riots, the Tornado, and the Bowery
Roy Omori
Growing up Japanese American in Coney Island in the 1950s and '60s
Keith Suber
Community activist and reformed gang member
Zohra Saed
Poet and writer from Afghanistan who grew up in Southern Brooklyn
Charles Guariglia
Memories of working a bread route on Coney Island's Mermaid Avenue in the 1950's and '60s
Khonya Epstein
Author and leader of the Holocaust Survivors Group at Marks JCH of Bensonhurst
Emmanuel Elpenord
An actor's memories of growing up in Sea Rise apartments and a souvenir of the Wonder Wheel
Frank Gurrera
Machinist at MTA's Coney Island Overhaul and Repair Shop and oldest active TWU Local 100 member
Anthony Wang
Resident of senior housing in Coney Island was born in Shanghai and survived the Cultural Revolution
Josephine Gargiulo Cassata
Daughter of Gargiulo's founder was born in an apartment above Coney Island's famous restaurant
Ida Rosenblum Gambrell
Memories of Coney Island in the 1920s and '30s
Shavon Meyers
A poet and storyteller on growing up in Coney Island at Gravesend Houses, the beach and Astroland
Gabriel Valencia
Twenty-five years at Gregory & Paul's and Paul's Daughter on the Coney Island Boardwalk
Lorraine Ross
Resident of Coney Island for 47 years and retired transit cleaner at Stillwell Terminal
Ralph Avella
Memories of working on the Coney Island Parachute Jump's operation crew at age 16
April Leong
Founder and principal of Coney Island's Liberation Diploma Plus High School
Ronald Stewart
Community activist and resident of Coney Island for more than 50 years