Oral History Archive

Filtering by 1980 - 1989 back to all

Yeva Novik

A 90-year-old Coney Island resident recounts her journey from Moscow to Southern Brooklyn

Frank Gurrera

Machinist at MTA's Coney Island Overhaul and Repair Shop and oldest active TWU Local 100 member

Khonya Epstein

Author and leader of the Holocaust Survivors Group at Marks JCH of Bensonhurst

Crystal Isley

Memories of growing up in Coney Island Houses in the 1980s and '90s

Robert Whitney

Memories of a gorilla show, a bungalow colony, and an underground city beside the beach

Stanley Fox, Part 2

Retired arcade operator's memories of when Coney Island's amusements were open in the wintertime

Alito Hernandez

From breakdancing on the streets of Coney Island with Fresh Kids to Peter Gennaro's Street Dreams

Silvana, Adrianne and Silverio Conte

Silvana, Adrianne and Silverio Conte, owners of 51-year-old SAS Italian Records in Bensonhurst

Mindy Gress

Memories of growing up on Coney Island's first block and working in the Cyclone photobooth's darkroom

Ron Vernon

Lifelong stickball player and Coney Island lifeguard for 48 years

Kai Fung

Homeowner in Coney Island's West End for almost 30 years and first member of his family to settle here

Edith Storch

Memories of growing up on West 36th Street in Coney Island's West End

Billy Blitzer

Longtime baseball scout for the Chicago Cubs and Sea Gate resident

Sam Moses

Sign-painting legend, musician and Sea Gate resident

Van Milana

Grandson of sword swallower Joseph "Ajax" Milana and DeWise Purdin "The Handless Sharpshooter"

Karen Dawn Blondel

Environmental justice organizer who was born in Coney Island and raised here in the 1960s and '70s

Anthony Wang

Resident of senior housing in Coney Island was born in Shanghai and survived the Cultural Revolution

Irene Karas

Sea Gate resident on her girlhood memories of Coney Island and passing them on to her daughter