Oral History Archive

Filtering by emigration and immigration back to all

Boris Ioselev

Librarian and exhibit curator at Coney Island Library emigrated from St. Petersburg nearly 30 years ago

Anthony Wang

Resident of senior housing in Coney Island was born in Shanghai and survived the Cultural Revolution

Naum Barash

A Coney Island Polar Bear recounts his 50 years of winter swimming in Ukraine and Brooklyn

Gabriel Alegría

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

Eric Safyan

Architect who grew up in Coney Island in the 1980s and designed the renovated Ruby's Bar & Grill

Courtney King

Jamaican-born artist and Coney Island resident

Mohammed Saad Ali

Actor and playwright whose new play A Lonely Night in Coney Island is set on the Boardwalk

Gregory Bitetzakis

Co-owner and operator of Gregory & Paul's for more than 50 years

Grace Lo

Homeowner and community activist in Coney Island's West End for almost 30 years

Julio Sauce

Ecuadorian-born Gravesend resident is among NYC's fastest long-distance runners in his age category

Irina Roizin

Founder and director of Brighton Ballet Theater, now celebrating its 30th year

Zinovy Pritsker

Musician and founder of a jazz big band recounts his journey from Leningrad to Southern Brooklyn

Viktor Vassiliev

New York Bread co-owner talks about baking 30 different kinds of Russian bread in Coney Island

Jorge Gallegos

Working year-round at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park for 30 years

Dalia Vazquez and Raymundo Bardomiano

Dalia Vazquez and Raymundo Bardomiano own Tacos Doña Zita on Coney Island's Bowery

Aisuluu Sartbaeva

Journalist and PTA President of I.S. 303 moved to Coney Island from Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia

Gabriel Valencia

Twenty years as part of the family at Gregory & Paul's and Paul's Daughter on the Coney Island Boardwalk

Marina Rubin

Ukrainian emigre writer and author of Stealing Cherries, a collection of flash fiction