Oral History Archive

Filtering by 2000 - 2009 back to all

Gene Ritter

Founder of Cultural Research Divers shares his knowledge of oceans, estuaries, and Coney Island Creek

Candi Rafael

Coney Island carny kid and water race game operator on the Bowery

Irina Roizin

Founder and director of Brighton Ballet Theater, founded in 1987

Santos Torres

Coney Island resident for 43 years, community gardener and musician

Commendatore Aldo Mancusi

Memories of Coney Island in the 1930s and '40s and growing up in Brooklyn in an Italian family

Albert Apuzzi and Dori Ten

Coney Island handball champions Albert Apuzzi and Dori Ten on the mecca of handball

Sarah Beetson

UK illustrator based in Australia who created her own summer-long artist residency in Coney Island

Viktor Vassiliev

New York Bread co-owner talks about baking 30 different kinds of Russian bread in Coney Island

Jorge Gallegos

Working year-round at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park for 30 years

Anthony Martire

A family tradition of raising and racing homing pigeons in Coney Island

Bonnie Kong

Growing up in Coney Island and becoming invested in the community

Martine Emile

Longtime Coney Island resident and cinematographer for a series of indie films shot here

Georganna Deas

Coney Island resident Georganna Deas has spent forty years advocating for a better Coney Island

David Head

David Head tells the story of African-American inventor Granville T. Woods and his electric roller coaster

Gabriel Valencia

Twenty years as part of the family at Gregory & Paul's and Paul's Daughter on the Coney Island Boardwalk

Marina Rubin

Ukrainian emigre writer and author of Stealing Cherries, a collection of flash fiction

Basil Jones

Jamaican-born chef at Footprints Caribbean Cafe in Coney Island and originator of Rasta Pasta

Theresa Giovinni

Coney Island resident who moved here as a high school student talks about her neighborhood