Mindy Gress

Brooklynite Mindy Gress and her family moved to Coney Island when she was 3-1/2 years old and she has lived here ever since.  "I'm living in Coney Island till I die," says the resident of West 5th Street, who describes her street as the first block of 11224 and walking on the boardwalk after work as heaven. "It's always going to be home." Mindy recalls childhood memories of the beach and the amusements and her teenage years when Coney Island was going through rough times.  An attorney by profession and an avid photographer, she looks back on the favorite job of her life developing photos of Cyclone riders in the roller coaster's darkroom in the summer of 1977. "You had to wait for the ride to stop to develop it because the enlarger would shake and the photo would come out blurry."