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Oral History Archive
Oral History Archive

Oral History Archive

We want to hear your Coney Island stories!

Share and preserve your Coney Island memories by recording an interview via phone or Zoom. We are recording interviews, both in English and other languages, with people who grew up, live or work in Coney Island and adjacent neighborhoods in Southern Brooklyn, or have a special connection to these places.

Filter Archive

Places

1205 Surf Avenue (Red Doors Bar & Grill)

1221 Bowery (Tacos Doña Zita)

1229 Riegelmann Boardwalk (Tom's Coney Island)

1318 Surf Avenue (Williams Candy)

1409 Mermaid Avenue (Carolina Restaurant)

1421 Neptune Avenue (Larry's Auto Radiator Repair)

1521 Surf Avenue (Footprints)

1524 Neptune Avenue (Totonno's Pizzeria)

1605 Surf Avenue

1618 Mermaid Avenue (Astella Development)

1621 Mermaid Avenue (Mermaid Prime Meats)

1718 Mermaid Avenue (Urban Neighborhood Services, Inc.)

2110 Mermaid Avenue (Santos White Community Garden)

212 Brighton First Court

2121 Shore Parkway

2126 Mermaid Avenue (Wilensky's Hardware)

2201 Neptune Avenue (New York Bread)

2302 Mermaid Avenue (J & R Pharmacy)

2747 West 5th Street

2762 West 36th Street

2769 West 5th Street

2812 Stillwell Avenue

2841 West 20th Street

2850 Stillwell Avenue

2856 Stillwell Avenue

2865 West 19th Street (Liberation Diploma Plus High School)

2872 West 29th Street

2875 West 8th Street (Coney Shack)

2879 West 24th Street (Coney Island Hook and Bait Shop)

2896 West 12th Street (New York Fencing Academy)

2905 West 19th Street

2907 Mermaid Avenue (Rosenberg's Deli)

2911 West 15th Street (Gargiulo's Restaurant)

2911 West 15th Street (Gargiulo's Restaurant)

2919 West 30th Street

2943 Stillwell Avenue (Kebab Garden)

2954 West 24th Street

2955 West 24th Street (Carey Gardens)

2995 West 29th Street

2nd Street Park

3001 West 29th Street

3029 West 24th Street

3703 Mermaid Avenue (Mermaid Spa)

3755 Oceanic Avenue

442 Neptune Avenue

55 Railroad Avenue

5D Cinema

7113 18th Avenue (SAS Italian Records)

7615 New Utrecht Avenue

Abraham Lincoln High School

Animation Odyssey

Asser Levy Park

Astroland

Astroland Arcade

Astroland Rocket

Astroland Shooting Gallery

Astrotower, The

Australia

Baby Incubator Building

Bath Beach

Bay Parkway subway station

Belarus

Bonomo's Original Salt Water Taffy

Bortnick's

Bread and Puppet Theater

Brighton Ballet Theater

Brighton Beach Avenue

Brighton Beach Baths

Brighton First Court

Brighton Towers

Brightwater Court

Brightwater Towers

Brooklyn Chinese-American Association

Brooklyn College

Brooklyn Technical High School

Calvert Vaux Park

Caterpillar, The

Cha Cha's

Chanticleer Carousel

Childs Building, The (Boardwalk)

Childs Restaurant (Boardwalk)

Chinese American Social Services Center

Coney Art Walls

Coney Island Beach

Coney Island Brewery

Coney Island Creek

Coney Island Handball Courts

Coney Island Hook and Bait Shop

Coney Island Hospital

Coney Island Houses

Coney Island Library

Coney Island Lighthouse

Coney Island Overhaul and Repair Shop

Coney Island USA

Cyclone Studios

Dante's Inferno (Astroland)

Denny's Ice Cream

Deno's Sweet Shoppe

Deno's Wonder Wheel Park

Devils Pit

Dick's Candy Store

Dreamland (1904-1911)

Ecuador

Edna Cohen School P.S. 90

Edward R. Murrow High School

Eldorado Arcade

Eldorado Auto Skooters

Enrico Caruso Museum

Ethel's Restaurant

Faber's Fascination

Faber's Sportsland Arcade

Feltmans

Feltmans Restaurant

Florsheim Stuffed Toys

Footprints

Genesis Repertory

Grandma's Predictions Fortune Telling Machine

Granville T. Woods Way

Grashorn Building

Grashorn's Hardware Store

Gravesend

Gravesend Houses

Gregory & Paul's

Grimaldo's Chair

Haber House Senior Center

Half Moon Bazaar

Half Moon Hotel

Harbor Hospital

Hell Hole

Henderson's Walk

Hong Kong

House of Horrors

Hubba Hubba Restaurant

Human Roulette Wheel

I.S. 228 David A. Boody

I.S. 303 George C Tilyou Junior High School

I.S. 303 Herbert S. Eisenberg

I.S.96 Seth Low School

Iceberg Athletic Club

Infant Incubators (in Dreamland)

Infant Incubators (in Luna Park)

Jamaica

John Dewey High School

Jones Walk

Kingsborough Community College

Kwai Fong Restaurant

LA Thompson Scenic Railway

Lafayette High School

Lakeland Theatre

Larry and Vinny's Pizza

Levy's Bar and Grill

Liberation Diploma Plus High School

Lido Bar

Lido Pool

Lido Speed Boats

Loews Shore Theater

Lola Star Boutique (Stillwell Terminal)

Luna Park (1903 - 1944)

Luna Park (2010 -

Luna Park (Melbourne, Australia)

Luna Park Houses

Magic Carpet Fun House

Manhattan Beach

Mark Twain Intermediate School 239

Marks JCH of Bensonhurst

Marlboro Housing Projects

Mermaid Theater

Mexico

Mezzo Pastry Shop

Mique's Bar & Grill

Moscow

Mrs. Stahl's Knishes

Municipal Bath House

Murray Zaret's Animal Nursery

Musik Express, The

Napoli Seven Seas

Nathan's Famous

Neptune Diving Bells

New Utrecht Avenue

New York Aquarium

Norton's Point Rail Line at West 37th Street

O'Dwyer Gardens

Ocean Tide Baths

One Neptune Terrace

Our Lady of Grace

Our Lady of Solace School

Paradise Ice Cream Parlor

Paradise Luncheonette

Paul's Daughter

Peluso Machine and Iron Works

Peru

Playland Arcade

Public School 100

Public School 188

Public School 225

Public School 288

Public School 80

Public School 90

Railroad Avenue

Ravenhall Baths

Resurrection Side Show

RKO Tilyou Theater

Rosenberg's Deli

Ruby's Old Tyme Bar & Grill

Sea Gate

Sea Gate Beach 3

Sea Lane Bakery

Sea Rise Apartments

Seaside Innovative Senior Center

Shamrock Irish House

Shatzkin's Knishes

Sheepshead Bay Race Track

Shoot the Chutes (Dreamland)

Shoot the Freak

Shorefront YM-YWHA

Skee Ball and Skee Roll

Sodamat

Spookhouse

Sports Car Ride (Steeplechase Park)

Star Penny Arcade

Steeplechase Beer Garden

Steeplechase Horses

Steeplechase Park

Steeplechase Park Pool

Steeplechase Pier

Stella's

Steve's Grill House

Stillwell Avenue

Stillwell Avenue subway terminal

Stubbman Carousel

Surf Avenue Boys Club

Surf Avenue Entrance (Luna Park (1903 - 1944)

Surf Bowling Lanes

Surf Hotel

Surfside Gardens

Surfside School P.S. 329

Tacos Doña Zita

Termini's Bakery

Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church

Thunderbolt, The (1925-2000)

Thunderbolt, The (2014-

Tirza's Wine Bath

Tornado, The (1926-1977)

Totonno's Pizzeria Napolitana

Trip to the Moon (Ride)

Tunnel of Laffs

Tunnels of Love

Ukraine

Vietnam

Viola Pigeon Club

Warbasse Houses

Washington Baths

Washington Baths Annex

Washington Baths Pool

West 12th Street

West 15th Street

West 16th Street

West 17th Street

West 19th Street

West 20th Street

West 22nd Street

West 23rd Street

West 24th Street

West 27th Street

West 28th Street

West 29th Street

West 30th Street

West 31st Street

West 32nd Street

West 33rd Street

West 35th Street

West 36th Street

West 5th Street

West 8th Street

West End

Wild Mouse, The

World In Wax Musee

Zei-Mar Delicatessen

Period

Themes

acrobats

actors

amusement arcades

amusement games

amusement parks

amusement rides

animals

antique car ride

apartment houses

arcades

architects

artists

attorneys

bakeries

bars

baseball

basketball

bathhouses

beach chair rental

beaches

bicycles

birds

blackouts

board of directors

boardwalks

bodegas

boxers

bread

buildings

bungalows

burlesque

bus trips

buses

carousels

cats

chess

chow mein sandwich

churches

circuses

citizen participation

clams

clubhouses

collectors

comedians

community activism

community boards

community centers

community development

community gardens

community liaison

community organizations

composers

Coney Island Polar Bear Club

crime

cyclops

dancing

dark rides

dime pitch

diving

dogs

ducks

economic development

educators

electric trains

emigration and immigration

fencing

filmmakers

fires

fireworks

fishermen

fishing

food

fortune tellers

franks

fun houses

gangs

gardens

handball

hardware stores

health facilities

historians

Holocaust Survivors Group

homeless persons

horses

hot dog eating contest

hot dogs

hotels

houses

housing

Human Resource Administration (HRA)

hurricanes

ice cream parlors

infant incubators

infants

inventors

It's My Estuary Day

jazz

juggling

kites

knishes

libraries

lifeguards

lion dance

Local 802

machinists

Mardi Gras

marriage proposals

motion picture theaters

music

musical theater

newspapers

Nights of Horror

nonprofit organizations

novels

pandemics

parades

pharmacies

physicians

piers (supporting elements)

pizza

pizzeria

plays

poets

Polar Bear Plunge

police

pony rides

racetracks

riots

roller coasters

running

salt-water pool

sea gulls

seniors (older people)

shoe repair shops

shooting galleries

sideshows

signage

signs

singers

souvenirs

sports

stickball

stores

strikes

strongmen

Stuhmer's Bread

subway

subway stations

swimming

sword swallowers

synagogues

tacos

tai chi

tapestries

tattoos

teenagers

theaters

theatrical productions

Transport Workers Union

unions

water race games

weddings

wellness

wildlife

winter swimming

world wars

writers

Yemeni American Merchants Association

Yiddish language

yoga

Languages

Chinese

English

Italian

Russian

Spanish

Turkish

Filtering by Mardi Gras back to all

Steve Burke

Memories of working at Coney Island's pony track as a boy in the 1940s for "no pay, just tips"

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Coney Island Events

New Year's Day 2023 Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge

December 10: Coney Island Creek Workshop

Nov 10 & 17: A Conversation & Performance about Growing Up in Coney Island

c/o Deno's Wonder Wheel Park
3059 West 12th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11224

info@coneyislandhistory.org
(347) 702-8553

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