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

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

Ronald Kannatt (The Prince of Coney Island)

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

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