Oral History Archive

Filtering by beaches back to all
Jeanette Bigelson
At age 103, Coney Island resident shares her memories and secrets to a long and happy life
Roy Omori
Growing up Japanese American in Coney Island in the 1950s and '60s
Gabriel Valencia
Twenty-five years at Gregory & Paul's and Paul's Daughter on the Coney Island Boardwalk
Connie Scacciaferro
Memories of going to Coney Island Beach as a child in the 1930's and a teenager in the '40s
Diana Wiener
Growing up in Sea Gate and Coney Island in the 1940s and '50s and moving back in the mid-1960s
JR Lopez
Memories of growing up on West 35th Street in Coney Island in the 1990s
Karen Wilcox
Memories of living in Luna Park Houses and going to Coney Island bathhouses in the 1960s
Samantha Robles (Cake)
Tattoo artist who grew up in Coney Island's West End
Alicia Angello
Teen memories of Coney Island's Polar Express and Breakdance in the 2000s
John Philip Capello
Mystery artist who carved faces into rocks on the shoreline at Brighton Beach
Amparo Garcia
Lifelong Brighton Beach resident shares stories of Brighton Beach then and now
Tymell Murphy
Professional basketball player and author of a book of poems and stories who grew up in Coney Island
Esther Delgado
Growing up in Gravesend and going to Coney Island in the 1940s and living there today
Rena Stutman Rice
Memories of growing up in Brighton Beach in the 1950s and '60s
Ellen Abrams
Memories of growing up on West 29th Street and meeting her lifeguard husband on Coney Island Beach
Tara Altebrando
Author of Dreamland Social Club, a novel set in Coney Island, who got engaged on the Wonder Wheel
Martin Abrams
Brooklynite who was a lifeguard in the 1950s and met his wife of 60 years on Coney Island Beach
Crystal Isley
Memories of growing up in Coney Island Houses in the 1980s and '90s