Oral History Archive

Stuart Waldman

Memories of growing up in Coney Island in the 1940s and '50s and fun summer jobs

Angela Kravtchenko

Architect who is a Coney Island resident and a community activist

JR Lopez

Memories of growing up on West 35th Street in Coney Island in the 1990s

Sofya Lobova

A longtime resident of Haber Houses and leader of the Russian-speaking community

Kathy Fenyves

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

Sonia Solano

Reflections on raising a family and working in Coney Island in the 1990s and 2000s

Karen Wilcox

Memories of living in Luna Park Houses and going to Coney Island bathhouses in the 1960s

Liz Unger

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

Erum Hanif

Community Board 13 member and CEO of Apna Brooklyn Community Center

Samantha Robles (Cake)

Tattoo artist who grew up in Coney Island's West End

Ansen Tang

Director of United Chinese Association of Brooklyn in Bensonhurt, Dyker Heights, and Sheepshead Bay

Jerry Omanoff

Memories of living in Coney Island from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s

Carol Polcovar

Writer and playwright who grew up in Coney Island from 1943 to 1956

Jerry Farley (The Jerry Farley)

Record producer and audio engineer who produces live shows at Coney Island Brewery

John Philip Capello

Mystery artist who carved faces into rocks on the shoreline at Brighton Beach

Rachel Rosenberg Simon

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

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