Oral History Archive

Jewel Hough
Working at Coney Island's Deno's Wonder Wheel Park for 18 Years
Ahmed Hussain
Memories of a boyhood helping out in his family's store in Coney Island and learning to play pinball
Rob Weissbard
Milton Berger's nephew describes adventures at Steeplechase Park with Coney's great showman
Mr. Luong
Coney Island homeowner recalls fleeing Vietnam with his family in 1981 and settling in New York City
Ho Cheung Li
Mermaid Avenue pharmacist dispenses news and advice to new immigrants
Beth Allen
Beth Allen recounts her origins as an "incubator baby" in Dr. Martin Couney's sideshow
Jeffrey Brettler
Working the Rides: From the streets of Coney Island to the war in Vietnam
Angbeen Saleem
A poet and roller coaster lover describes her weekly ritual of riding the Coney Island Cyclone
Tina Mednicoff Smokler
Growing up in Coney Island and being elected to Leon Friend's Art Squad at Lincoln High School
Irwin Temkin
Growing up in Coney Island and how learning French at Lincoln High School influenced his life
Betya Shenker
Memories of World War II in Ukraine and immigrating to Southern Brooklyn
Mary Engel
Filmmaker and archivist whose parents collaborated on the film Little Fugitive in Coney Island
Judith Densky
Memories of growing up in Coney Island and Sea Gate in the late 1940s and 1950s
Larry Marquit
Growing up in Sea Gate and Coney Island in the 1930s and '40s
Stella Bacolas
Growing up in Greece and living in Coney Island's Luna Park Houses since the 1970s
Mort Shatzkin
Memories of growing up in Coney Island and the family business, Shatzkin's Famous Knishes
Sofya Dudnik
Embroidery artist and Coney Island resident who emigrated from Moscow in 2010
Ben Roubin
Memories of growing up at Villanova Court, a bungalow resort in Coney Island, in the 1950s and '60s