Oral History Archive

Filtering by 2000 - 2009 back to all

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

Boris Kotlyar

Mermaid Spa founder talks about bringing the Russian banya tradition to Coney Island

Cornel Chan

"The Elvis of the East" and founder of Brooklyn Chinese-American Assn. Chorus

Tatyana Panteleyeva

From Tbilisi, Georgia to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

Junaid Anwar

Pakistani immigrant and Lincoln High School graduate recounts living on West 15th Street

Takeshi Yamada

Osaka-born artist creates sideshow curiosities in his Coney Island home

Joe Lazzaro

A member of the Iceberg Athletic Club from 1971-2007

John Strong

Sideshow Proprietor

Robert Maxwell

Roller coaster restorer and enthusiast

Wally Roberts

The King of Jones Walk

Marie Roberts

A painter with a Coney Island legacy

Walter "Shorty" Arsenault

Long-time manager of Astroland's Kiddieland

Lauren Burke

On a date with Coney Island