Oral History Archive

Filtering by amusement rides back to all

Mike Boodley

Award-winning roller coaster designer looks back on riding the Cyclone 1,001 consecutive times in 1975

Roy Omori

Growing up Japanese American in Coney Island in the 1950s and '60s

Ralph Avella

Memories of working on the Coney Island Parachute Jump's operation crew at age 16

Alonzo Kittrels

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

Jim Lucarelli

Memories of operating Steeplechase Park's Sports Car ride in 1963-1964 and fighting the Ravenhall fire

Marie Navarro

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

Stephen Salmieri

Bensonhurst-born photographer whose work documents Coney Island from the mid-1960s to early '70s

Toby Deligdish

Girlhood memories of visiting Coney Island in the 1930s and '40s

Josh Wolfe

Chairman of Coney Island Prep on growing up in Coney Island and the charter school's first 15 years

Judith Densky

Memories of growing up in Coney Island and Sea Gate in the late 1940s and 1950s

Kathy Fenyves

Memories of growing up in the newly opened Luna Park Houses in the 1960s and 1970s

Eric Schwelke

Memories of living in Luna Park Houses in the 1960s and again in the late 1970s

Frieda Schwelke

Memories of growing up in Coney Island in the 1930s and '40s and moving to Luna Park Houses in 1962

Amparo Garcia

Lifelong Brighton Beach resident shares stories of Brighton Beach then and now

Sharon Tera

Sharon Tera's family operated Ethel's Restaurant on the Boardwalk in the 1940s and '50s

Laura Numeroff

Children's book author's memories of Steeplechase, the Animal Nursery, and Brighton Beach Baths

Reverend Cliff Herring

The Roller Coaster Reverend shares stories of Cyclone weddings

Robert Levrini

Memories of growing up on West 5th Street and grandfather's shoe repair shop on Ocean Parkway