Oral History Archive

Filtering by Coney Island Beach back to all

Ida Rosenblum Gambrell

Memories of Coney Island in the 1920s and '30s

Alonzo Kittrels

Memories of bus trips to Coney Island with the Good Will Family Club from the 1940's through 1961

Melody Andorfer

"Hot Dog Queen" and Winner of the 1972 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

Marie Navarro

A lifelong resident's memories of growing up in Coney Island's Gravesend Houses and Kaiser Park

Lois McLohon

Brooklynite who posed for a now iconic 1950's NY Daily News pin-up photo on Coney Island Beach

Dennis Thomas

President of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club for the past 12 years and a member since the 1980s

Connie Scacciaferro

Memories of going to Coney Island Beach as a child in the 1930's and a teenager in the '40s

Norman Finkel

Boyhood memories of visiting Coney Island in the 1930s and getting lost on the beach

Tina Mednicoff Smokler

Growing up in Coney Island and being elected to Leon Friend's Art Squad at Lincoln High School

Samantha Robles (Cake)

Tattoo artist who grew up in Coney Island's West End

Maria Schwab

Growing up in Gravesend and going to Coney Island in the 1960s and living there today

Esther Delgado

Growing up in Gravesend and going to Coney Island in the 1940s and living there today

Jen Kepler

Educator at New York Aquarium and passionate observer of Brooklyn wildlife

Ellen Abrams

Memories of growing up on West 29th Street and meeting her lifeguard husband on Coney Island Beach

Martin Abrams

Brooklynite who was a lifeguard in the 1950s and met his wife of 60 years on Coney Island Beach

Gina Femia

Brooklyn-born playwright on her plays set in Coney Island and a marriage proposal on the beach

Allen James

Coney Islander, musician/songwriter in alt-rock band Newborn, lifeguard

Crystal Isley

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