Oral History Archive

Ben Roubin

Memories of growing up at Villanova Court, a bungalow resort in Coney Island, in the 1950s and '60s

Tina Mednicoff Smokler

Growing up in Coney Island and being elected to Leon Friend's Art Squad at Lincoln High School

Ronald Kannatt (The Prince of Coney Island)

Twenty years at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park's Karaoke on the Boardwalk

Irwin Temkin

Growing up in Coney Island and how learning French at Lincoln High School influenced his life

Diana Wiener

Growing up in Sea Gate and Coney Island in the 1940s and '50s and moving back in the mid-1960s

Angela Kravtchenko

Architect who is a Coney Island resident and a community activist

JR Lopez

Memories of growing up on West 35th Street in Coney Island in the 1990s

Sofya Lobova

A longtime resident of Haber Houses and leader of the Russian-speaking community

Stuart Waldman

Memories of growing up in Coney Island in the 1940s and '50s and fun summer jobs

Sonia Solano

Reflections on raising a family and working in Coney Island in the 1990s and 2000s

Karen Wilcox

Memories of living in Luna Park Houses and going to Coney Island bathhouses in the 1960s

Liz Unger

Memories of Coney Island in the 1950s and a family's candy factory on Mermaid Avenue

Erum Hanif

Community Board 13 member and CEO of Apna Brooklyn Community Center

Samantha Robles (Cake)

Tattoo artist who grew up in Coney Island's West End

Alicia Angello

Teen memories of Coney Island's Polar Express and Breakdance in the 2000s

Ansen Tang

Director of United Chinese Association of Brooklyn in Bensonhurt, Dyker Heights, and Sheepshead Bay

Jerry Omanoff

Memories of living in Coney Island from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s

Carol Polcovar

Writer and playwright who grew up in Coney Island from 1943 to 1956