Oral History Archive

Filtering by Mermaid Avenue back to all

Charles Guariglia

Memories of working a bread route on Coney Island's Mermaid Avenue in the 1950's and '60s

Ronald Stewart

Community activist and resident of Coney Island for more than 50 years

David Louie

David Louie's family owned the popular Wah Mee Restaurant on Mermaid Avenue

Steven Feinstein

Reflections on running Wilensky Hardware, a 100-year-old family business on Mermaid Avenue

Ho Cheung Li

Mermaid Avenue pharmacist dispenses news and advice to new immigrants

Liz Unger

Memories of Coney Island in the 1950s and a family's candy factory on Mermaid Avenue

Rachel Rosenberg Simon

Rachel Simon recalls her family's Deli Restaurant on Mermaid Avenue

Fred Stern

Bus driver for 35 years on the B36 route and the shuttle bus inside Sea Gate

Orlando Mendez

Growing up in Coney Island in the 1970s and being the third generation of his family to live here today

Stefon Bristol

Film director and screenwriter who grew up in Coney Island in the 1990s

Joyce Chopra

Groundbreaking filmmaker grew up in Sea Gate and on Mermaid Avenue

Carole Scheer

Her father, Anthony Cosmo Pomaro, owned Cosmo Topper's Beauty Parlor on Mermaid Avenue

Barbara Unterman Jones

Memories of being one of the first families to move into Gravesend Houses in 1954 and growing up there

Stanley Fox

Retired Coney Island arcade operator recalls his family's 30-plus years in the business

Alito Hernandez

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

Andy Fuhrman

Memories of growing up in Coney Island Houses and on Mermaid Avenue in the 1950s and '60s

Gabriel Alegría

Jazz musician and bandleader of the Afro-Peruvian Sextet has lived in Coney Island for the past decade

Michael Goldstein (Looch)

Memories of growing up on Mermaid Avenue and working games in Coney Island from age twelve